Jack's Descent
by Kendra Luehr
Summary: When Jack Napier's life is changed by one impulsive moment, Rachel Dawes doesn't want to believe he's dead like the police claim. After 6 years pass without any sign of her fiancé, a crazed, familiar lunatic crashes Harvey's fundraiser. MATURE AU JOKACHEL
1. The Anniversary

**A/N** - It's me with yet another (and most likely my last) Jokachel fic, so I hope you'll enjoy. Bruce will be in the second chapter since he's one of Rachel and Jack's friends, but as of right now he's considered irrelevent. Enjoy! ;0P

**CH 1: The Anniversary**

"Why are you such a jerk!? Let me _go!"_

Laughing, Jack continued to hold Rachel in a headlock as he gave her an affectionate noogie, the poor girl squealing as she swatted about with the hopes of coming free of his grasp. Glancing toward their two sunbathing friends, Craig and April (minus Bruce) for help, she irritably demanded, "And _why_ aren't you guys helping me!? This is _girlfriend_ abuse!"

"Sorry, but I'm not getting involved in any domestic disputes until _after_ cop school" Craig returned, a grin splitting his freckly face as he leaned back against his beach towel and closed his eyes.

Realizing that Rachel was now sending her a pleading look, April shook her head before returning, "Sorry Rach, but I am _not_ getting up close and personal with your man. Don't you remember how I told you he's like a Greek god? If I touch him, I'll turn to stone!"

"Or just a lovelorn puddle" Craig mocked, his features wincing when April knuckled him in the ribs.

Before Rachel could give a teasing retort, Jack maneuvered her over his shoulder so that she was kicking and screaming, her eyes widening once she realized he was heading straight for the ocean.

"Jack, _no!"_ she squealed, her hands covering her eyes as her petite body bounced to and fro. "Jack, I _mean_ it, if you throw me in there, I'm going to _kill_ you!"

"Well you haven't killed me after four years of dating, so I think my chances of survival are pretty good" he smugly shot back, a warm laugh escaping his lips upon hearing her ireful shrieks.

Splashing into the chilly foam, Jack grinned as a rather large wave came crashing toward them, Rachel squealing as he dove with her straight through the briny surf. Although Rachel longed to scream, she knew better than to do so unless she wanted a mouthful of water. The prismatic light beams from the surface glinted above them as they swam, Rachel releasing a barely audible squeak when she suddenly found Jack's lips on her own. Abruptly melting into his embrace, she linked her arms about his neck and leaned into the kiss, a delicate blush staining her cheeks when she felt his hand slide longingly over her rump.

When they finally broke the surface gasping for breath, Rachel gave Jack a playful slap before finding her lips entrapped by his yet again, a shrill wolf whistle cutting through the air as Craig and April exploded with laughter.

"Daaayamn, Captain Jack, if you kiss Rachel like that again, the cops are gonna have to give you a ticket!" Craig exclaimed, his head tossing back as he gave yet another gut-busting guffaw.

Rachel hid her face in mortification, but Jack breezily caught her by the hand and dragged her back to shore. "Are you trying to tell me that we'll have to put up with cop jokes until you graduate?" he teased, a grin splitting his features when Craig gave yet another laugh.

"Dude, just shut up and have a beer...King Triton _commands_ you!"

Jack blinked, his eyes now gravitating toward the empty beer cans strewn out across the sand. "Uhh, are you _drunk,_ Craig?"

The redhead sniggered. "Well I'm not _not_ drunk, if that's what you're implying...you two come over 'ere and sit next to Papa Bear."

Knowing all too well where this was going, Jack abruptly turned to leave, but Rachel caught him by the wrist and forced him down onto the beach towel alongside her.

"You are _so_ dead" Jack hissed in her ear, only to grunt when she giggled. "Look, I'm serious! Every time Craig calls himself Papa Bear, he starts reciting poetry!"

"Ah, the perks of being a drunk -- just consider this payment for tossing me in the ocean" Rachel snidely shot back.

When Jack grumbled an unintelligible string of curses, Craig swayed a bit before deciding aloud, "Y'know what, buddy? Since your four year anniversary's this evening, you should make Rachel a poem."

Jack blanched. "Oh, _God,_ no..."

"Ooh, yes! I agree, I think you definitely should!" April chimed in, her gray eyes shining as she clapped her hands. "C'mon, do it right here, right now, Jack...it would be _so_ romantic!"

"Well how the hell is it going to be romantic with _you_ two here?" he growled, no longer able to face Rachel since he knew she was laughing. "Unless I turn into some Casanova within the next three seconds, I fail to see how this is the perfect gift, especially when Rachel's right over there and able to _hear_ you guys!"

This reaction got Rachel laughing again, Craig staring dumbly back at Jack before drunkenly returning, "Look, man, look, I'll help ya out, ok? You're my boy, so I'm gonna hook you up with a poem."

Jack winced. "Craig, _no,_ I don't want..."

"Ok, here we go..."

"Craig, I'm _serious..."_

With a dramatic flourish of the hands, Craig spilled his beer as he giddily began, "An Ode to Rachel Dawes, by Craig Stephenson and Jack Napier..." Clearing his throat for dramatic effect, he winked once at April before sustaining,

"Nice and firm, two for each hand to hold,

Finger-lickin' good and not made from any mold

Rachel's tits are a buffet Jack wants to sup,

'cause it sure doesn't take much to get 'Little Jack' up"

"Jesus Christ, _stop_ it!" Jack shrieked, only to turn red as Craig stubbornly continued,

"Perfect, perky and round, without any lumps,

When Rachel says the 'candy shop' is closed, Jack gets down in the dumps

Try as he may, try as he might,

He still has yet to actually 'get down tonight'

I know it's hard to wait, I know it's been so long,

Especially when Rachel traipses around in that lacy black thong

But don't worry Jack, with my last words I leave Rachel some good advice, methinks

Rachel, give him some action _now_ before Little Jack shrinks!"

Bowing dramatically at the conclusion, Craig barely had time to duck before Jack threw one of the empty beer cans at his head. Both April and Rachel were far too busy laughing to notice the sudden tiff, but Craig's tipsy disposition prevented him from really feeling the blow.

"Dude, did you _see_ that?" he eagerly asked Jack. "I think something fell out of the sky and hit me on the head, and I'm for serious this time...I _promise_ I'm not gonna go into another one of my stories on UFOs!"

"Or zombies?" Jack asked dryly, his eyes rolling skyward as he suddenly rose to his feet. Turning to Rachel with an apologetic look in his eye, he announced, "Hey, I'm real sorry, but I've gotta go...we're still on for 7:00, right?"

Rachel beamed. "Well of course we are, you durf -- it's our anniversary!"

Mirroring her bright smile, Jack bent over and quickly kissed Rachel on the lips (earning yet another wolf whistle from Craig) and said his farewells.

As he left the group to their own devices, Rachel gazed after him with a dreamy smile on her face, her expression never changing as April asked, "So what do you two plan on doing tonight? Anything special?"

"Yes, _very_ special" Rachel cheerily acknowledged. "He's invited me over to his apartment for dinner."

Craig gave a derisive snort. "And what's so damn special about _that?_ Has he hired a stripper, or something?"

"No, you oaf! It's special because, even after all these years of waiting, he's never asked me to come over to his house" Rachel confessed, her eyes appearing rather sad as she gazed off toward the ocean. "Every time I'd bring up the possibility of meeting his family, he'd automatically change the subject, so the fact that he's finally given in to my request is a big step for us."

Craig whistled lowly. "Wow, so he's never even let you inside his room? No _wonder_ the guy hasn't been laid yet!"

_"Craig!"_ Turning to Rachel with a supportive look in her eye, April worriedly asked, "So do you have any idea _why_ Jack's been behaving this way? I mean, it's normal for most college kids to shy away from their homes, but I'll admit that after four years that's pretty weird."

"No, I'm not sure why he's like this" Rachel warily admitted, "but I'm honestly far too scared to find out..."

--

"Jack, gimme a piggyback ride!"

Looking from the pasta he was boiling down at his little sister, Jack grinned before teasing, "Aren't you a little old for that stuff by now, Penny? Last time I picked you up, I thought I was going to get a hernia."

Penny pouted, her pretty pink lips twisting in disappointment as she insisted, "I may be a big girl, but I'm not big enough just yet..._please _give me a piggyback ride!" Lifting her scrawny little arms up to him in a pleading gesture, she squealed in delight when Jack suddenly swooped down and twirled her around in his arms. Hazel eyes twinkling, she giggled and covered her eyes when he took her by the waist and tossed her up into the air, her squeals growing shrill when he caught her and began tickling her underarms.

"Jaaaack!" she screamed, her eyes watering as she laughed to the point of pain, "Jaaack_, stooooop!"_

"Only when you promise to clean your room" he smugly agreed, a laugh of his own escaping his lips as Penny's face grew red from laughter. Tears were streaming down her chubby cheeks in hot torrents, and her tiny arms and legs were flailing wildly with the hopes of her coming free.

Before Jack could further torment the poor child, Mrs. Napier entered the kitchen with a weary, worn-out look across her weathered features. She barely even gave her children a second glance as she set her purse down on the table, her hand rubbing her eyes as she suddenly asked, "Dinner just about ready?"

"Uh, yeah" Jack acknowledged, his eyes softening in concern. He knew that his mother had been working two separate shifts ever since his father had been laid off, and the dark bags under her eyes proved it. Gently setting Penny back down onto her feet, Jack chewed on his lower lip before uneasily asking, "You remember that Rachel's coming over tonight, right? It's our four-year-anniversary."

"Oh?" Appearing to be somewhat distracted, Mrs. Napier shrugged out of her sweater and sent Jack an apologetic look. "I'm really sorry, sweetheart, but I just don't think I'm up for any socializing tonight. If I don't get some rest now, I may not be able to get up in time for my morning shift."

"B-but mom, Rachel was counting on meeting you, and..."

"Sorry sweetie, but my answer is still no." Now smiling down at her crestfallen daughter, she wearily added, "Try not to make too much noise, alright? I'll see you both in the morning."

As Mrs. Napier shut the door behind her with a loud and final click, Jack placed a hand down on Penny's shoulder as he watched the sunlight fade from her eyes. He knew she missed spending time with their mother, because hell, he did too. Lynnelle Napier was the only shield against the evils in their home, as well as the evils of _him._

Glaring at the family portrait hanging crookedly on the wall, Jack felt the urge to punch a hole through his father's face...the face of the man who'd stood there and laughed as he beat his wife and children. Jack had suspected that Penny had been getting the worst of their father's tirades, and the proof was when she started coming to his room and begging to sleep in his bed. He'd never asked what his father had done to her, because quite frankly, he was far too terrified to find out.

Before Jack could tell Penny to help him strain the pasta, a sudden knock came at the front door that caused Skittles -- their three-year-old Jack Russel terrier -- to bark shrilly in alarm.

"Quiet!" Jack snapped, fearful that his mother would get pissed. When Skittles failed to stop barking, the blonde grumbled to himself and plodded into the foyer. When he opened the door with a semi-irritable aura hovering about him, the gloomy shadows on his face immediately scattered when he caught sight of Rachel standing there before him, her eyes twinkling like starlight as she beamed up at him in utter adoration. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and her curvy figure was bedecked in a dark blue cocktail dress that matched her eyes.

Practically panting, Jack made a move to speak when she teased, "Well aren't you going to let me in? It's awfully chilly out here, you know."

Feeling his cheeks grow hot in embarrassment, Jack mumbled a string of incoherent apologies as he showed his date into the house.

Smiling sweetly when Jack offered to take her sweater, Rachel declined his offer as she gazed about her in awe. "Wow, so _this_ is where the mysterious Jack Napier lives" she thought aloud, her smile turning into a grin as she admired the coziness of the apartment. "Where's all your artwork? Art majors typically have proud, boastful mothers who _love_ displaying their children's pictures, after all."

Jack sheepishly bowed his head. "I, uh...um...I don't really like to show anyone my stuff."

"What, not even me?" Rachel countered, giving him a coy grin. When he shook his head she continued to tease, "Why, is your specialty drawing naked playmates?"

"No" Penny spoke up, a grin stretching her lips as she finally entered the foyer, "he likes drawing naked _Rachels!"_

Blushing from head-to-toe, Jack lunged for the giggling little girl as she cheerily began to chant, "Jack loo-ooves Rachel, Jack loo-ooves _Raa-cheeel!"_

"Well he'd _better"_ Rachel agreed, laughing at the humility etched across her boyfriend's face. Taking his arm in hers, she good-naturedly asked, "So where's this knock-out dinner you're supposed to have made? I'm expecting a feast fit for kings, you know."

Glad for a change of subject matter, Jack cleared his throat before pointing towards the kitchen. "Uhh, it's in there...nothing's done yet, but I hope you like pasta."

"Jack, you know perfectly well that I love it -- it's all I get from the cafeteria since everything else is complete crap."

Jack grinned, but when Penny began tugging on Rachel's dress, he gave her a warning look. Why did he have the distinct feeling that she was going to embarrass him yet _again?_

"Rachel, Rachel!" Penny eagerly persisted, "Did you know that Jack's got a present for you?"

Jack's jaw visibly clenched. "Penny, _don't..."_

Intrigued, Rachel sent her beau a wry smile before asking the girl, "Oh, yeah? Well what kind of present is it?"

"A very pretty one! It's..."

"Penny, _stop!_ It's supposed to be a surprise!" Jack growled, but the giddy blonde was far too excited to stop her explanation.

Pulling on Rachel's sleeve so that she was forced down to her own level, Penny grinned before whispering, "He got you a pretty ring, 'cause guess what? He wants to _marry_ you!"

_"Penny!"_

Feeling her heart flutter wildly within her chest, Rachel stood back up before looking at Jack with comically wide eyes. "I-is this true?" she breathlessly inquired.

"Um...surprise?" Jack offered, his gaze sheepish as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, square-shaped box. "I, uh...kinda planned on this being more _romantic, _but thanks to Lady Chatterley over there, I guess this'll have to do." Sending Penny an admonishing look, he grumbled, "On the plus side, I know now that I can't ever trust _you_ again."

Rachel laughed. "Oh Jack, be easy on her! You know I would've said yes no matter _how_ you proposed."

"Yeah?" Jack asked, clearly skeptical. "Even if I slipped the ring into your pasta, or something along those lines? My cousin Mary didn't seem to like that since her boyfriend didn't warn her, so she actually ended up swallowing the ring. Needless to say, they aren't together anymore."

Rachel smirked. "Well, I probably would've yelled at you until your ears bled, but yes, I still would've agreed to take the plunge."

Shakily handing her the box, Jack shyly urged, "Now you'd better not be expecting anything fancy, 'cause I'm a poor college student who can barely afford the clothes on my back."

Rachel smirked. "I think you know fully well that I don't care about the ring, you oaf -- I'd still marry you even if you gave me one of those cheap ones you find in cereal boxes."

"Wow, really? Well damn, I could've saved a whole lot of money!" Jack gibed, Rachel laughing as she finally opened the box and peered inside. A modest, tiny ring winked back at her within the dim lighting of the room, her heart swelling once the reality of the situation fully dawned on her. Jack really _did_ want to marry her, and the proof was inside the very box in her hand.

Slipping the ring onto her finger, Rachel felt a shiver jolt through her body along with the chill of the wedding band, her eyes meeting with Jack's as he gave her a lopsided grin.

"The 'taken' look suits you" he decided, Penny making a face as he leaned in to kiss his fiancée.

"That's _gross!"_ she complained.

Grinning, Jack forced Rachel's mouth back over his and purposely made wet, sloppy kissing noises, Penny tugging on his shirt as she urged, "Don't do that, you sicko! You're giving Rachel your cooties!"

"Or maybe Rachel's giving me _her_ cooties" Jack playfully shot back, a sharp "ow!" escaping his lips when Rachel knuckled him in the ribs. Rubbing his afflicted area with a pout, he smugly retorted, "Alright, well _fine,_ I _was_ going to show you my room and some of my artwork, but now I've deemed you _far_ too "jerk-ish" to see my shining castle."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, you oaf, I didn't hurt you _that_ bad! Quit being such a baby and let me see your room!"

Careful to keep his voice down so Penny couldn't hear him, Jack grinned before smoothly teasing, "A little eager, are we?"

"Well it _has_ been four years" Rachel agreed, laughing as her boyfriend took her by the hand and began leading her down the hallway. After they'd reached his bedroom, she guiltily added, "I feel kind of bad for leaving Penny back there like that. Should we have left her alone?"

"She's fine" Jack breezily assured her. "If she gets hungry, she can just nibble on those strained pasta noodles."

Before Rachel could tease him about being such a jerk, Jack pushed open his bedroom door and turned on the light with a pull chain, his girlfriend standing there in complete awe as a world of color was opened up to her senses. Each wall was a creation of sheer beauty with nary a spot untouched, several hues splashing together to create what dreams are surely made of. When Rachel looked up at the ceiling, she discovered that it was a deadringer for Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night", her hands clasping over her chest as she breathed, "Oh my _God,_ Jack, I had no idea you were so talented! Why didn't you ever show me anything like this before?"

"I'm very touchy about my work" Jack confessed, "but ever since you became my primary muse, I figured that maybe I should start showing people my stuff."

Rachel blinked, clearly flattered. "I-I'm your _muse?"_

Cheeks coloring a delightful shade of rouge, Jack coughed into his hand before going over to his closet and sliding the door aside. When he motioned to Rachel to come forward, she did so with a furiously pounding heart.

Shyly touching her wrist when she met his side, Jack gestured toward the pictures within the closet and coughed yet again. "These, uh...um...these are all paintings of you" he explained rather timidly. "The one in the far corner was supposed to be for your upcoming birthday, but you can have it now if you'd like."

Breathless with curiosity, Rachel edged her way into the closet as she flicked on the light, her eyes widening once she spotted what was surely one of the most beautiful creations she'd ever seen. At a glance, the painting appeared to be nothing more than the stars in the heavens, but upon a closer look, it became quite evident that it was the figure of a woman. Her hair flowed behind her in a trail that led into the milky way, and her eyes were the two brightest stars in the sky.

Uncomfortable with Rachel's silence, Jack shoved his hands into his pockets before pressing, "You, uh...you like it?"

"Oh Jack, of _course_ I like it...heck, I _love_ it!" Rachel gushed, her boyfriend jolting in surprise when she leapt into his arms and kissed him firmly on the mouth. Now raining kisses all over his face, she warmly teased, "It's far too beautiful for words, except I have _one_ slight complaint..."

"Yeah?"

"You made my rack _way_ too big."

Grinning, Jack moved to tease her back when the front door suddenly slammed shut_. "Nelle!"_ a big, burly voice growled_, "Nelle, you get your cheatin' ass out here! You've got some explainin' to do!" _

Eyes wide, Rachel looked worriedly to Jack, who's face was now white as ash. "You should go" he whispered, his tongue reflexively licking his lips. "C'mon, I'll show you out back."

"But Jack, I..."

_"I said get your ass out here, NOW!"_

There was the sound of another door slamming, then an irritated, _"Alright, alright, there's no need to yell, Paul! I'm trying to sleep so I can help pay for all the shit you've put this family through!"_

_"Now you listen a' me, Nelle -- I was with the boys downtown just now, and they told me you've been playin' the field behind my back. Is this true?"_

There came a shrill laugh. _"Oh yeah, with the milkman, right? That story never gets old!"_

_"Christ, is it true or not!?"_

_"Well maybe it _should_ be! Lord knows I could date any schmuck and discover more of a provider with them than you!"_ A shuddering sob soon followed, which was immediately cut off by the sound of a hard, hate-filled slap.

_"You shut your mouth, ya hear? If I ever catch you with another man, and I mean _ever,_ I'll hunt you down like the rat you are and _kill_ you!"_

Rachel jumped when the sound of a chair crashing to the floor reached her ears, her hand grasping Jack's as Lynelle's scream echoed throughout the apartment and chilled her blood.

"That's it, I'm going out there" Jack hissed, his features red with rage.

Terrified, Rachel held fast to his wrist and pleaded with him to stay with her, but judging by the murderous fury in Jack's eyes, there was no changing his mind. Never in her life had she seen such hatred in his eyes, and it terrified her.

When Jack finally wrested himself free of her taut grasp, he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before urging, "Stay here", Rachel watching after him with frightened eyes as he ripped open the door and went storming down the hallway.

_"Hey! Get the hell off her, you prick!"_

There came another crash, then the sound of violent struggling, Rachel squeezing her eyes tightly closed when Lynnelle screamed yet again.

_"Jack, don't! Jack, you're going to kill him!"_

_"Good!"_ Rachel heard him scream, _"If I don't kill him now, I'm sure I'll end up killing him later!"_

_"Jack, let him go, he's _drunk!"

There was a pause, then an unintelligible string of low, heated words before the front door opened and slammed shut.

Fearing for Jack's safety, Rachel abandoned her hiding place and dashed down the hallway to the kitchen, her heart breaking when she saw Jack cradling Lynnelle against his chest like a small child. She was sobbing softly into the crook of his neck as his eyes met with his girlfriend's, his irises colored with shame as he whispered, "You should probably go home now, Rachel...I'm so sorry I ruined our anniversary."

"Y-you didn't" Rachel choked out, tears prickling along her lashes since her boyfriend looked so pained. "Is she ok?"

When Jack wordlessly nodded, she shakily blew him a kiss before mumbling something about seeing him tomorrow. She felt that she didn't need to add to his already monumentous burden, so she slowly left the house without another word.

**A/N** - Before anyone asks, yes, Craig IS based off a real life person (one of my friends) because he is SO freaking awesome. True story about the poetry, because every time he gets drunk, he recites some made up crap to his girlfriend. It's hilarious, although _hardly_ romantic, hahaha. But anywhos, hopefully this is a good enough start, because I've been (no lie) working on this for at least a month, if not longer. I've had this idea ever since I made my "Do What You Have to Do" vid, which I made at the beginning of the school year, so holy crap. lol

So anywhos, I _always _work faster when I get an incentive, so the more reviews I get, the more I'll update. That's why I was able to update "An Unhealthy Obsession" like every day, because wowzers, you guys were fan-freaking-tastic! And now that I've tried to gain the pity review, I shall shut up now. ;0P


	2. The Promise

**CH 2: The Promise**

Pouring milk into his cereal, Jack looked up from his bowl as Penny sleepily plodded into the kitchen. "Morning" he greeted, hoping to find her unaffected by the night before.

"Morning" she chirped in response, her tiny fists rubbing her eyes before she plopped down onto the chair beside him. "Whatcha eating?"

Sticking his tongue out so Penny could see the chewed up Cheerios, Jack laughed as she complained, "Eww, that's _so_ gross, Jack -- Mama says not to play with your food!"

"Well I'm not" he innocently assured her. "I'm _eating_ my food, so I'd hardly consider myself at fault for abiding by the rules." As he grinned around his mouthful of cereal, he felt the vice binding his heart loosen in accordance with Penny's sunny smile. It seemed that no matter how bad things were at home, he could always count on her cheery disposition to give him the strength to soldier on.

Affectionately tweaking her nose, he asked, "You want something to eat, Squirt?"

"No, I'm only out here 'cause I couldn't sleep" Penny softly admitted. "Can I talk to you about something, Jack?"

"Oh boy, you're not _pregnant,_ are you?"

Penny's mouth fell agape in an astonished "O", her brother laughing as she chided, "Jaaaack, I'm only six years old! I'm too young to have the stork visit me!"

He grinned. "This is very true, but you're wise beyond your years and growing like a weed."

Penny made a face. "Weeds are _ugly..."_

"Ok fine, you're growing like a flower."

"Like a rose?" Penny asked, her eyes shining with an infectious amount of hope. "I like roses, 'cause they're pretty and they smell good!"

Jack made a show of thinking to himself, then he nodded before agreeing, "Well I don't see why not...you're both very pretty, after all, but I'm not so sure about the whole 'smelling good' thing."

_"Jaaaack!"_

Chuckling, he ruffled Penny's hair and grinned when she irritably smoothed it back down. "Didn't you have a question for me?" he reminded her, knowing fully well how her mind tended to wander.

Eyes widening with remembrance, Penny bounced in her seat before chirping, "Oh! _Right!_ I wanted to tell you about my arith...my ar-arith...arithma..."

"Arithmatic class?" Jack offered, a bright grin adorning his lips when Penny nodded excitedly.

"Yes, yes! _Arithmatrick!_ Boy, Jack, it is _so_ hard! Whoever invented arithmatrick is a big meanie who needs to be taught a lesson!"

Laughing, Jack asked, "Well why do you feel that way, Pennifer?"

"Because it's _hard!"_ Penny returned as if it were obvious. Now scowling, she irritably added, "My name is _not_ Pennifer, Jack -- that's ugly!"

"Ok, well how about Penford? I'm trying to figure out a new nickname for you."

"No, that's even _uglier!"_

"Penny-loafer?"

"No!"

"Penn State?"

"NO!"

Holding his hands up in surrender, Jack grinned before agreeing, "Ok, ok, fine, that last one _was_ a bit ridiculous, but you've gotta admit that you've got one heck of a cool brother."

"More like a prissy one" Penny argued, a grin splitting her face when he gave her a surprised look.

"Hey! I'll have you know that only _girls_ are prissy, and I am _not_ a girl, Penny."

"Yes, you are!" Giggling, she went to hop off the chair so Jack couldn't grab her, but he easily caught her by the wrist and dragged her onto his lap.

Placing his fingers threateningly over her midsection, he asked, "Are you going to take that back, or do I have to give you a tickling you'll never forget?"

Penny looked as if she were seriously contemplating his proposition, only to suddenly shake her head and squeal _"Never!"_ at the top of her tiny lungs.

"Alright, you asked for it!" Holding Penny in a headlock, Jack grinned as he used his free hand to tickle her tummy and underarms.

Squealing, Penny tried to wriggle free of his grasp, but to no avail, her small body squirming about as Jack happened to catch sight of his watch.

"Oh shoot, I'm gonna be late!" he exclaimed, his lips falling upon Penny's forehead before he set her back onto the floor. Wagging a finger at her admonishingly, he promised, "This isn't over", Penny giggling as she watched her brother grab his coat and trip out the door.

--

"Heeey, how was the big night?"

Looking up from her lunch tray with a start, Rachel immediately relaxed when she saw Craig and April grinning back at her in expectance. Shrugging her shoulders as she nibbled on a french fry, Rachel forced a tight smile to her lips as she replied, "It was very...nice."

_"Nice?"_ Craig ridiculed, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "Aw, c'mon, where're all the gory details? How many times did you two do it?"

"It's not about sex with us!"

"Well yeah, _obviously" _Craig muttered. "I mean, would it kill ya to go out on a limb for the guy? You've been dating for four years!"

"Four and a half" Rachel corrected, her eyes averting down to her tray as she began poking at her gelatinous mashed potatoes. It wasn't that she was angry with Jack, but ever since she'd found out why he'd been so adamant about her staying away from his house, she instantly regretted being so pushy. Now that she knew, she couldn't help but be overwrought by guilt. After all, should she betray Jack's trust and tell the authorities, or should she stay quiet and trust him to handle everything on his own?

In accordance with her worried thoughts, Craig suddenly cupped his hands and hollered, "Hey, Wayne the Lame! Get your skinny little Richie Rich ass over here!"

Peering over her shoulder in surprise, Rachel looked Bruce over questioningly since she hadn't expected him to come back from Brazil so soon. He was immaculately tan (no true surprise there), and as soon as he saw them, he flashed a smile so blinding that Crest would surely be lining up at his door with advertising propositions.

As Bruce breezily came up to the table, Craig slapped him on the shoulder before teasing, "Wow, brown baggin' it today, are we? I wish your hot mom would make a lunch for me, too."

"His name is _Alfred"_ Bruce grumbled, clearly not appreciating the joke.

"Whoa dude, I know, I know, I was just roughin' ya up a bit" Craig insisted, holding his hands up in surrender as Bruce continued to glare at him. "Visit any nude beaches while you were in Brazil?"

"Not any that you'd be invited to" Bruce returned, now turning so that he could send Rachel a meaningful look.

Blushing furiously, Rachel bowed her head and began to dig into her mashed potatoes with more force. She could not _believe_ he'd just said that!

Seeming to sense her friend's discomfort, April quickly urged, "Why don't we all have a seat? My lunch is getting cold."

"Yeah" Craig agreed, admiring April's short skirt, _"cold."_ Purposely dropping a quarter onto the floor, he dove under the table and turned around so he could try and sneak a peek under April's mico mini.

Raising an eyebrow, April irritably demanded, "Hey, what are you doing down there?"

Craig snickered. "Well if you gotta ask, I must not be doin' it right."

"Oh! Get out from under there, you freaking _pervert!"_ April snapped, Rachel drawing a hand over her mouth to prevent her laughter.

As everyone finally grabbed a seat, nobody took note of the breathless young man racing toward them until he flopped down beside a startled Rachel.

"Sorry I'm late" Jack apologized, "but I had some morning wood to take care of."

"Oh, you did _not!" _Rachel argued, yet she laughed in spite of her uneasy disposition. "Was it Penny, again? Every time you're late it's because of her."

"Why, ya jealous?"

"She can _have_ you" Rachel shot back, a grin of her own forming along her lips when Jack pouted. "Well what's the matter?" she pressed. "Upset that I'm willing to share?"

Jack immediately perked up. "Well if you're willing to _share,_ why don't we invite April along the next time we..."

_"Jack!"_

Laughing, he whispered something in Rachel's ear before pulling her in for a kiss, April's eyes widening once she spotted the ring on her friend's finger.

"Rachel" she breathlessly began, "is there something you've been meaning to tell us?"

Reluctantly withdrawing from Jack's embrace, Rachel gave April a questioning look before demanding, "Well what do you mean?"

"I think she wants to know if we use tongue" Jack whispered, thus earning himself an elbow to the gut.

"No, seriously" April interrupted, "are you two engaged? 'Cause Rachel's got a pretty decent-sized rock on her left finger..."

Cursing due to her carelessness, Rachel moved to speak, but Jack cheerily slung an arm across her shoulders and nodded. "Yep" he acknowledged, grinning, "she agreed to take the plunge yesterday evening."

"Oh, hallelujah -- sex stories at _last!"_ Craig giddily exclaimed. "I am _so_ tired of being the only one with dirt to share, so now that you two'll be getting married, you'll _have_ to do it!"

_"Craig!"_ April snapped, giving him an elbow to the ribs. Now directing her sparkling eyes to her friends, she clasped her hands before asking, "So do you guys need any help planning the wedding? 'Cause I'm pretty good at organizing things."

Jack scratched the back of his head. "Uhhh, well we honestly haven't thought about it yet..."

As Bruce listened to all of this ridiculous hubbub, he finally decided that he couldn't take it anymore. Abruptly shooting up from his seat, he eyed everyone at the table before grumbling, "I'd better go", his hard gaze meeting with Rachel's before he took his tray and stormed off.

"Whoooa, Brucey must've gotten a parasite lodged up his ass. I just _knew_ that Brazil wasn't gonna be good for the guy" Craig remarked, his eyes rolling skyward as he began shoveling french fries into his mouth.

Sending Bruce a concerned look over her shoulder, April's eyes lit up when she suddenly formulated an idea. "Heeey, why don't you guys come over to my place after class?" she eagerly suggested. "That way we can not only relax, but help you two plan things out."

Jack looked to Rachel with a smile, then shrugged his shoulders. "Well alright, but _only_ if Rachel will give me a piece of her cake."

"Boy, you sure drive a hard bargain" Rachel declared, a true smile gracing her lips as she handed him the dessert. "I'm only giving you this because it'll go straight to my ass."

"Well so will my hands" Jack returned, wiggling his eyebrows as he smacked her bottom.

When Rachel squealed, nobody noticed Bruce glaring daggers at the happy couple from across the room.

--

Whistling a tune as he entered the apartment, Jack flicked on the kitchen light before hanging his coat up on the hanger. As usual, April's little get-together had been _interesting,_ to say the least, but he'd left her place a little wiser about what not to drink. Craig had been the guinea pig for her latest concoction, and his poetry had been in rare form that evening.

As Jack opened the fridge to reach inside for a Jack Daniels, he froze when a sudden noise began to pervade his senses. Straining to hear, the blonde frowned when he realized that the sounds of soft sobbing were coming from Penny's bedroom.

Abandoning his drink, Jack slammed the fridge door shut and went racing down the hallway as fast as his long, skinny legs could carry him. Entering Penny's room in a rush, he flinched when he saw his sister curled up in a tiny ball on her bed, her small shoulders shaking as she continued to sob in soft, short little shudders.

"Penny?" Jack ventured, his eyes softening in concern. "Hey, Squirt, what's the matter?"

When Penny slowly turned to face him, he immediately recoiled, his gaze hardening when he took note of the large, swollen bruise beneath her left eye. "What the hell has he done to you?!" he viciously growled out, his fury radiating within his bones as Penny sniffled.

"M-my teacher called and told him my arithmatrick grades were bad" she whimpered, her head bowing as she rubbed her eyes. "He said I-I needed to bring up my grades so I wouldn't be an embarrassment to him and Mama."

"Christ, you're only six!" Jack exclaimed, his arms curling around her as she sobbed against his chest. Stroking her soft, corn silk hair, he rested his chin against the top of her head before gently assuring her, "Don't you worry, he won't touch you again as long as I'm around...you're my favorite sister."

"I'm your _only_ sister" Penny reminded him, thus causing Jack to smile.

"Well yeah" he agreed, "but you're still my favorite." Now turning serious again, he asked, "Why didn't you go to Maggie's like I instructed?"

"She was sick" Penny mumbled, only to cringe when Jack gave a small curse.

"What did I tell you?" he demanded, concerned frustration peeking through his voice. "Even if Maggie's sick or unavailable, you stay _away_ from this house. Do you understand?"

Penny nodded tearfully.

Brushing the tears from her cheeks, Jack sighed before apologizing, "Look, I'm really sorry for snapping like that, but you mean a whole lot to me, and I don't know what I'd do if he...if you..." Jack paused, his head bowing as a sudden lump formed in his throat. He didn't want to think about such things, especially since it seemed like his life was finally turning around.

Interrupting his string of turbulent thoughts, Penny tugged at his sleeve before asking hopefully, "Jack, can you stay here with me tonight? I know I'm a big girl, but I'm still afraid..."

Jack's eyes softened. "Yeah, no problem, Squirt -- I may have to watch out for your cooties, but that's what life's all about, right?"

Penny grinned before sticking her tongue out at him. Snuggling into her brother's offered arms, she smiled against his shirt before asking, "Did you mean it, Jack? Will you really keep Papa away from me?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, of course I will."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Satisfied with this answer, Penny relaxed within his strong embrace and closed her eyes. As Jack gazed down upon the top of her head, he found that the moon left a silver halo glowing about her flaxen locks. She looked so angelic, and it was then that he decided on the perfect nickname for her: _Angel._

Lying his head down so that Penny was tucked beneath his chin, he felt her squirm slightly before mumbling, "Hey, Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

He swallowed sharply, his adam's apple bobbing as he felt the same lump from earlier form in his throat. Squeezing his eyes tightly closed to ward off his fears, he nodded once before whispering, "Yeah, me too, kid."

**A/N** - Gah, sorry for the delay, but I had (HAVE) papers to write, and lots of other crap, so yee-haw. lol And word to the wise, don't be expecting happiness and gooey love for much longer, 'cause it'll get angsty starting next chapter. YAY! lol I love writing angst, 'cause I'm a jerk like that. xD

Anywhos, thank you SO SO SO SO much for the lovely support! It really HAS helped to inspire me to update, so I really do appreciate it! Keep it up if you'd like more faster! Just like Jack, I push a hard bargain. ;0P


	3. Cordis Gravitas

**A/N** - The title of this chapter basically translates to "The Heaviness of My Heart", so you know what _that_ means. ;0) ANGST ANGST ANGST! lol And sorry for taking so long, but I had a loooot of HW to do, not to mention it seemed like all my readers disappeared, haha. I thought the 2nd chapter must've really sucked, but hopefully this one more than makes up for it. :-S

**CH 3: Cordis Gravitas**

"How about this one?"

Sitting on Jack's bed with a critical look on her face, Penny promptly shook her head and pointed to the floor. "Throw it in the 'maybe' pile...it doesn't define your curves enough to flatter your figure."

Jack laughed. "Angel, curves are for _women_ -- what are you doing with that kind of vocabulary, anyway?"

"I read it in a magazine" Penny proudly confessed. "It said you should wear stuff that accentumalates your curves."

_"Accentuates?"_ Jack clarified, smiling. "At this rate, you'll be a starving model by age seven."

Clearly not getting the joke, Penny cocked her head to the side as she watched him try on yet another shirt.

"There now, this good enough for my 'curves'?" Jack gibed, grinning as he held out his arms in submission to her evaluation.

Beaming, Penny clapped her tiny hands and nodded. "Oh yes, those colors match very well!"

"Yeah, but will they match the upholstery of Rachel's car when I take them off?" he muttered, obviously more to himself than to his sister.

As Jack dug around in his closet for a belt, Penny clasped her hands in her lap and began kicking her legs back and forth. "Jack" she eagerly began, "what do you want for your birthday?"

Turning to give her a cheeky grin, he warmly teased, "I think I'd like to trade my little sister in for a nice Lamborghini -- think the dealers'll go for that?"

_"Jaaack!"_

Laughing, he looped his belt through his pants while insisting, "Angel, you know I'd never trade you in for some fancy car. After all, if I gave you away, I couldn't steal your dessert at dinner anymore."

"And you wouldn't get any of my hairstyles" Penny added, giggling when Jack grimaced.

"Geez, are you _trying_ to get me to trade you in? I'll do it, you know."

"No, you won't" Penny smugly argued, only to squeal when her brother tossed a pair of boxers in her face. "Ewww, Jack, these are _gross!"_ she whined, the aforementioned laughing as he watched his sister toss the garment to the floor.

As he finished up the final attributes to his ensemble, Jack turned to Penny and struck a pose that was very reminiscent of Elvis. "Whaddaya think?" he asked, grinning. "Will Rachel finally wanna lay me?"

"Lay you?" Penny reiterated, her brows quirking in confusion. "Lay you _where?"_

"Uhhh...never mind." Checking his watch, Jack's grin only widened as he announced, "Hey look, I've gotta get going, Squirt, but I'll see you later tonight, alright? Since mom's got some time off today, you should be nice and give her a hand with the chores."

"But Jack, what about your birthday?" Penny lamented. "I wanna start saving money in my piggy bank so I can get you something special."

Jack's brown eyes softened. "Hey now, there's no need to get upset...I'm a man of simple taste, so all I need are the two beautiful girls I live with." When Penny gave him a reproachful look, he grinned before hurriedly correcting, "Sorry, I meant the two beautiful _women_ I live with...now c'mere and give me a hug."

More than happy to oblige, Penny rushed into Jack's outstretched arms and warmly embraced him about the neck. At that moment Jack had never felt more proud to call her his sister, for it was apparent that one day she would grow up into a beautiful, kind-hearted woman with big plans.

As if reading his mind, Penny asked against the security of his shoulder, "Since I like playing with hair, do you think one day I could open up a beauty parlor of my very own?"

Jack chuckled. "Well sure you can, Squirt, but don't expect _me_ to be your first customer."

Before Penny could give a bitter retaliation, Jack kissed her soundly on the forehead and made his exit, the little girl lingering in the doorway as she gazed after him in complete admiration.

--

Checking her reflection in the side view mirror, Rachel smiled to herself as she made a turn in her little red Honda, the sun shining in through her window as she re-adjusted the radio. The sweet strains of "Independent Love Song" reached her ears and she sighed, finally content with the fact that she was going to be a married woman. Granted, she had been terrified after the incident at Jack's apartment, but now she knew that his familial issues didn't matter. She loved him, and that was that.

As Rachel hummed along with the radio, her cell phone rang its obnoxious rendition of one of Mozart's classic pieces. Picking it up with a grunt, she flipped it open before greeting, "Hello? Jack, that you?"

There came a pause, then a bitter, "No, it's me, Bruce... I was just calling to see if you wanted to come over or something."

Rachel twisted her lips into a frown. "Bruce, you know fully well that I'm on my way to see Jack -- we're spending the day together to make up for our anniversary."

"What, did he forget about it?" Bruce scoffed. "If you were _my_ girl, I'd never forget a single anniversary."

Rachel snorted. "Bruce, if I were _your girl,_ I think I'd want to jump off a cliff. I mean, do I _honestly_ look like one of your skinny little bimbos?"

"Rachel, you don't understand, I..."

"You're right" she viciously cut in, "my rack's not _nearly _big enough for Wayne's Whorehouse." With a heated farewell, she promptly hung up and tossed the phone back over her shoulder, her fingers gripping the steering wheel until she spotted Jack waving cheerily up ahead.

When she pulled to a stop, Jack opened the door and wiggled his eyebrows. "Well, hel-_looo,_ beautiful!" he greeted, admiring the way her red dress clung to her soft curves. Still panting as he crawled in, he placed a hand over her knee before purring, "Why don't you and I forget about dinner and just go to one of Brucey's nude beaches, hmmm?"

Jerking in surprise due to Bruce having just called, Rachel finally settled on rolling her eyes before grumbling, "Jack, the only way you're seeing me naked is if Gotham reverts back to the ways of Eden."

"My _goodness"_ Jack mockingly returned, _"someone's_ a little tense this afternoon."

Keeping her hands firmly on the steering wheel, Rachel gave a heavy sigh and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry" she apologized, "I'm just a little tired, I guess."

"Why, because I wore you out with my phone call after lunch?" Grinning when she rolled her eyes, Jack buried his face into her hair before nuzzling her neck, Rachel giving a little squeal when his hand drifted down and grasped her bottom.

"Jack, I'm _driving!"_

"Well so am I, woman! I'm driving for second base!" he insisted, laughing against the crook of her neck as she gave him a whack on the head.

When Jack continued to grope and fondle her supple form, Rachel shifted uncomfortably in her seat before demanding, "Good _God,_ are you trying to make me have an _accident!?_ You can wait until we stop!"

"No time, end of the world" Jack mumbled in response, his mouth now ghosting along the swell of her breasts as he placed a hand in between her thighs.

Moaning softly, Rachel grasped at his hair with one hand and drove with the other, her voice soft and husky as she reminded him, "Jack, I am _not_ putting out for you until we're married."

"Aww, not even a half put-out?" he teased, grinning when she smacked his rump.

"Ooh! I _love_ it when you get feisty!" he growled in response, his tongue flicking against her flesh as she shivered. Now looking up at her with his mischievous brown eyes, he smugly added, "If you didn't want my _mind-boggling_ touch, I would've recommended not wearing this dress. In fact, that's a good idea...let's take it off!"

_"Jack!"_ Giggling when he playfully pretended to lift her dress over her thighs, she slapped his hands away before giving him a meaningful look. "If you promise to be good, I _might_ just let you get to second."

Giving her a serious look, Jack eagerly urged, "Pull over. _Right_ _now."_

Laughing, Rachel moved to reprimand him for being such a horny jerk when he suddenly shushed her, a grin suffusing his lips as he turned the radio up to a deafening degree.

When the pleasant melody of "My Girl" reached Rachel's ears, she placed a hand over her face before urging, "Jack, _no...",_ but he was already singing.

"III've got sunshiii-iiine on a clouuuuudy daaaay, when it's cold outsi-i-iiiide, I've got the month of Maaay..."

"Jack, _stop"_ Rachel begged, "please, you sing off-key..."

Promptly ignoring her, he slung an arm across her shoulders before giddily sustaining, "We-ell, III'd guuuuess yoooou'd say, what can make me feel this way...?"

"Jack, shut _up!"_

"...Rachel, Rachel, _Raacheeel,_ talkin' 'bout Raaaacheeeel..._Ra-_chel! Ooooh-hoo-oooo..._oof!"_

Laughing as he rubbed the gut that she'd just elbowed, Jack grinned over at his fianceé before teasing, "Well damn, _someone_ sure doesn't appreciate the fine arts!"

"Oh no, I do, but _only_ when the singer can actually carry a note" Rachel smugly shot back, her hand patting his knee as he continued to stare at her.

"Hey, I could carry my notes all the way to China if I wanted to!"

"Jack, are you being facetious?"

"Fuh-_wha_-cious?"

Sighing, Rachel turned down the radio and gave his cheek a quick kiss. "For injuring your pride like that, I _suppose_ I can pull over a little sooner than I originally intended."

Jack gave her a goofy grin. "Pull over? You mean so I can finally get my big, wet, sloppy, tongue-all-over-the-place kiss?"

Practically crashing into the sidewalk amidst her hurry to park, Rachel give him a predatory grin before leaping into his arms and crushing a rough, open-mouthed kiss upon his lips. After that rather vigorous display of affection, Jack had no further questions.

--

"Mama, why is daddy always away?"

"He's very sick, honey" Lynnelle returned softly, her eyes remaining on her batch of cookies as she bent over to put them in the oven. As she rose and wiped her hands on her apron, she turned to look over at her daughter with a tired smile on her face. "Why so interested, Penny? Papa's alright."

"I guess I just wanted to know if that's why he hates me" Penny mumbled, her gaze returning to her picture as she began to color in the lines.

Appearing as if she'd been mortally wounded, Lynnelle walked over to her daughter and gently put her hands on her shoulders. "Aww, sweetheart" she cooed, "he doesn't hate you at all...his illness just makes him very irritable."

Clearly not believing her, Penny said nothing as she hunched her shoulders and bent back over her picture, her eyes shining in admiration for the beloved brother she was currently depicting.

_"Lynnelle!"_

With a start, Penny directed her frightened eyes over toward her mother as a loud crash sounded from the front entrance, Paul's red face appearing in the doorway as he began brandishing his switch blade like a madman.

"You've been cheatin' on me, again!" he growled, Lynnelle frantically denying these accusations as he seized her by the wrist. Backhanding her roughly across the face, he snarled, "Goddammit, _stop_ lyin' to me about it, woman! I saw it with my own eyes, an' ya know what?" He grinned. "I think all this time at home has left you very..._unhappy."_

"You're insane!" Lynnelle sobbed, a hand covering her mouth as he held up his blade. "Paul, I swear to you that I've done _nothing_ with another man! How can I when I'm always stuck here slaving away over the chores!?"

Chuckling, Paul's grip on her wrist tightened as he purred, "Aww, look at all those tears! Perhaps we should put a _smile_ on that face, hmm?"

As Lynnelle looked up in surprise, Paul jerked her forward and stuck his switchblade inside her mouth. When her bloodcurdling scream reached Penny's ears, the child's eyes widened and she dropped her markers amidst her panic. Scrambling down from the kitchen chair, she rushed over into the adjacent room as her father's voice bellowed, _"You get back here now, you little brat!"_

Choking on a sob, Penny pressed herself into the far corner of the room and slid down onto her rump, her big hazel eyes spilling tears once Paul entered the doorway in all his bulk.

With a grin on his whiskered face, Paul held up his bloody switchblade before cooing, "Aww, well what's the matter, sweetie? You're not _smiling!"_

Hiding her face behind her hands, Penny whimpered while trying to burrow back into the furthermost point of the wall, a small cry escaping her lips when her father grabbed her by the wrist and wrenched her up to her feet.

"Hey" he growled, now giving her right pigtail a rough tug, "what's eatin' you, uh?"

Sniffling, Penny trembled before whimpering, "I-I want Jack..."

"Aww, you want Jack, huh?" When she nodded, Paul grinned and slipped his blade in between her rosebud lips. Twisting his mouth into a mocking pout, he purred, "Aww, you're still not _smiling,_ Penny! What's with all the tears?"

Now sobbing freely, Penny tasted blood as the knife nicked the corner of her mouth, her tears burning along her lashes as she sniffled, "I-I want _Jack,_ Papa..."

Stroking her soft hair, Paul's grin grew wider as he nodded, his voice dangerously low as he agreed, "Don't you worry, sweetie, you'll see Jack again soon enough."

"I-I _will?"_

The hopeful look in Penny's eyes was almost sickening, yet this didn't keep Paul from backing away from his plan.

Digging the blade against her lips, he chuckled before snarling, "Sure you will, kid, but first we need to put a _smile_ on that face!"

With a wail, Penny called for Jack as the knife sliced into her delicate flesh, her sobs now echoing throughout the apartment as she pleaded for her brother to come rescue her.

--

When Jack returned from his date, it was well after dark. Whistling "My Girl" with a merry twinkle in his eye, he set his keys inside the tray in the front room and began shuffling to the beat, his fingers snapping as he gave a quick spin and entered the kitchen. Flicking the light on, he began singing softly as he moved over to the refrigerator and opened the door. After retrieving a soda, he turned and gave a sharp cry when he tripped over something thin and bony...someone's _ankles._

Scrambling up so that he was on all fours, Jack frantically crawled over to the body and gave a harsh shudder when he realized it was his mother.

With a soft sob, he ran his hand along Lynnelle's cold, pale cheek, his eyes taking in the sight of her Glasgow smile and slit throat in complete horror. Her eyes were closed, but her make-up was smeared from the tears she'd shed amidst Paul's attack. "Oh, God" Jack moaned, his eyes prickling with tears, "Oh, _God..."_

As he balanced himself by putting his hand on the floor, he jumped when he realized he'd wrinkled up a piece of white construction paper. Glancing down upon it with furrowed brows, Jack trembled as he lifted the parchment and gazed upon a picture of two stick figures, each smiling and holding hands amidst a field of sunny flowers. Above the figures' heads was the simple phrase "To Jack, Love Penny", his body beginning to shake as the picture slipped from his grasp in an instant.

_Penny..._

Frantically scrambling up to his feet, Jack went staggering into the adjacent room and glanced about him in a frenzied panic. Almost immediately spying the delicate figure lying across the room, Jack felt his heart take a torturous dip as he fell to his knees and released a strangled, gutteral wail.

Penny wasn't facing him, but he knew without touching her that she was dead. Her soft body was bathed in copious smudges of scarlet, and her tiny neck was cocked at such an odd angle that it had to be broken.

Whimpering like an injured dog, Jack crawled over to Penny and began to sob as he gazed down upon her sweet countenance. "C'mon, Angel" he whispered, not even flinching when he pulled her bloody form into his arms, "c'mon, sweetheart...oh _God,_ why won't you fucking _say_ anything!?"

The Glasgow smile on Penny's face seemed to mock him as he gave a pitiful little moan, his body shaking along with his sobs as he struggled to catch his breath.

Running his fingertips across her marred cheek, Jack bit his lip before abruptly closing her eyes with his hands, for he couldn't bear to see the frozen terror gazing back at him a moment longer. But then, why shouldn't he suffer? Hadn't he failed her in every possibly way? Jack had promised Penny that he'd protect her from Paul, but now he'd failed...

"Oh, God" Jack moaned, finally giving in to his sorrow, "oh_, God!"_ Burying his face against Penny's bloody neck, he clung to her like a drowning sailor to a buoy, his hand repeatedly running through her hair as he rocked her back and forth.

"Shh" he whispered, sniffling amidst his tears, "don't you worry about a thing now, alright, Penny? He can't get you anymore...you and Mama are both perfectly safe."

"Aww, well ain't this a pretty little picture?"

Freezing abruptly in place, Jack felt his hands begin to tremble with rage as he directed his murderous gaze upon his father. "You" he tearfully rasped out, "what the hell have you _done!?_ You harmed the two people you should love most!"

Paul chuckled. "Relax, kiddo, you need to _smile_ more -- life's short, and believe me, I should know."

Gently resting Penny's body back onto the floor, Jack rose to his feet before straightening his stance, his breathing ragged and heavy as he snarled, "You can't take your illness out on your family! It's not our fault you were diagnosed with cancer!"

Now it was Paul's turn to scowl, his grip tightening about his blade as he took a slow, lumbering step forward. "Maybe not" he agreed, "but you all shared the same predicament: you never _smiled_ enough! What's it gonna take to put a _smile_ on that face, hmm?"

Faltering, Jack reflected back on Penny and Lynnelle's Glasgow smiles and shuddered, his face contorting into a mixture of grief and rage as he finally allowed his thirst for revenge to take full control. Forming his hand into a tight fist, Jack released an agonized cry before charging forward, Paul grunting in surprise once his son struck him squarely across the jaw. Only deterred for a moment, Paul used the bulk of his 220 pound body to shove Jack down onto his back, the blonde's eyes widening in astonishment as his father dove forward and pinned him to the floor.

Struggling frantically about, Jack began to pummel Paul's large gut with his fists, only to soon discover that his efforts were completely futile.

Grinning a large grin full of cracked, yellow teeth, Paul used his knees to pin both of Jack's arms down to his sides so that he was trapped. Wincing due to the unbearable pressure on his wrists, Jack squirmed wildly about as he felt his blood pounding through his fingertips, his eyes remaining electrically charged as he watched his father bring the blade up to his mouth.

Tapping Jack's cheek with his hand, Paul sneered down at him before purring, "Aww, why so serious, kiddo? I think it's time we put a _smile_ on that face!"

Moving to speak, Jack gave a howl when a stab of hot, blinding pain tore through the right side of his face, his eyes dancing with pinpoints of color as the blade sawed through the sinews of his flesh. Gurgling on his on blood, Jack coughed as the metallic-flavored fluid dribbled down over his chin, his eyes watering with pain as the knife strategically sliced upward into a delicate curl. When Paul positioned the blade toward the other side of Jack's mouth, Jack abruptly jerked his head with the hopes of avoiding the assault, only to give a cry when the knife cut a diagonal, far more jagged laceration than the first. The initial force of the blow hadn't been all that painful since it was so sudden, but as soon as Paul removed the blade from his son's mouth, Jack began to feel a pulsating burn flaring amidst the fresh wound.

"There, now" Paul smugly purred, "a smile to match my little family of jokers!"

Lying there choking and coughing on his own blood, Jack gazed up at his father with furious brown eyes, his fists clenching until he reared his right leg up and kneed him straight in the groin. With an unceremonious _'oof!'_, Paul rolled to the side and clutched himself amidst the tear-jerking pain, but in the process he'd made the fatal mistake of dropping his knife.

Diving for the blade, Jack said nothing for fear of ripping his face apart, but his dark eyes spoke volumes as he seized Paul by the throat and held up the blade.

"Hey now, kiddo" Paul uneasily began, "whatcha doin', uh?"

To avoid further tearing of his flesh, Jack clenched his teeth and mockingly growled out, "Why so _serious_?", his hand shaking as he stuck the blade inside his father's mouth. With murderously cold, unfeeling eyes, he gurgled past his bloody lips, "Let's put a _smile_ on that face!", Paul screaming once the knife tore a perfect arc through both of his round, plump cheeks. Instead of his son stopping like Paul thought he would, Jack removed the blade and drove it into his father's windpipe with a sickening crunch. Blood spurted from both the wound and Paul's gaping mouth as his eyes boggled in shock, yet Jack was far from finished with him.

Withdrawing the weapon like a knife from a stick of butter, Jack pushed Paul onto his backside before rearing back and striking him with the blade again, and again, and _again._ Even when Paul was a dead, bloody pulp of the man he once was, Jack's lust for revenge still wasn't satisfied, his face, hands and clothes now spattered with his father's blood as he continued to stab the knife into the gore of Paul's torso.

Finally far too exhausted to continue his assault, Jack emotionlessly tossed the blade onto the floor and rose to his feet. When he looked straight ahead, he happened to catch a glimpse of the monster glaring back at him from the opposing mirror on the wall, his eyes now nothing but two cold, chillingly vacant orbs as he stared back at his haunting reflection. Bloodied spittle fell from his lower lip and absorbed into his T-shirt, but it was hardly noticeable since the fabric had been transformed to a stark red.

Admiring the vermillion grin that curved across his swollen, already bruising cheeks, Jack found that he could feel nothing as his true lips remained unsmiling. He was no longer Jack Napier, but a joke...a cruel, mercilessly twisted joke.

--

When the police arrived at Rachel's apartment, it had already begun to storm, the thunder shaking her humble abode to the very frame as she hesitantly opened the door. Gazing out at the dark, solemn faces in bewilderment, Rachel couldn't help but shiver as she watched the rain rhythmically drift off the bridges of their caps.

"C-can I help you?" she finally managed to squeak, her eyes searching theirs as the head cop stepped forward.

"Rachel Dawes, I am Lieutenant Mosby, and this is my partner, Officer Hudson. We've been informed that you're currently dating a Mr. Napier, so if we could just ask you a few questions..."

"What's happened?" Rachel urgently cut in, her features paling in fear. When both men failed to respond, she hysterically shrieked, "What's happened to Jack, Lieutenant!?"

"Ma'am, please calm yourself..."

_"Calm_ myself!? You come over here like this and expect me to _calm_ myself!?" Giving a humorless laugh, Rachel took the head cop by the shoulders before begging, "Please tell me what's happened! I have a right to know!"

When Mosby nodded to his partner, Hudson took off his cap before solemnly revealing, "The Napier's had a terrible accident earlier this evening, and in the process, three of them were killed."

Rachel's breath caught in her throat, her lashes prickling with tears as she placed a hand to her chest. "Y-you mean, they're...they're _dead?"_

"Yes, dead" Mosby coolly clarified. "And you know what we think, Miss Dawes?" When she shook her head, he cruelly sustained, "We believe that dear ol' _Jack_ was the one who killed them."

"Oh!" With a whirlwind of color passing over her eyes, Rachel collapsed into the lieutenant's arms and went completely limp.

Nodding to his partner, Mosby lifted Rachel into his embrace and brought her indoors, the street now completely silent save for the heaving rattling of the rain.

**A/N** - Yeeeah, so it's finally done...well, this CHAPTER, anyway. :P It took me forever! I already gave my reasoning, so I'll just leave it at that. lol And I know it seemed ridiculous, but I could actually picture that scene where Rachel just tackles Jack. After all, isn't that what most of you fan girls wanna do, anyway? ;0P Now please make my heart soar and REVIEW! :) I promise I update more frequently if and when I get them! lol


	4. Moving On

**CH 4: Moving On**

It had now been a week since the horrific murders at the Napier household, and Jack was still nowhere to be found. Since his blood was also discovered at the scene of the crime, the police were beginning to believe that he was either dead or coming close to it.

Sitting on her bed with a crumpled up tissue, Rachel sniffed as April gently rubbed her shoulders.

"You want something to drink?"

"No."

With a grim look on her delicate features, April gave Rachel's shoulder a pat before suggesting, "I figured that after the service you and I could come back to my place, curl up with some hot cocoa, and watch season one of Moonlighting. Craig wanted to come along, but I figured you wouldn't be up to seeing him just yet."

"Yeah" Rachel softly agreed, "I don't think I can pretend things are normal the way he can." Brushing back a lock of her hair, she hurriedly added, "Now don't think I'm not appreciative of your offer, but I'd really rather just go home afterward."

April frowned in concern. "You sure? Moonlighting always cheered you up in the past..."

"Well yeah, but you're forgetting that _Jack_ was the one who introduced me to it" Rachel miserably reminded her. Now placing her face in her hands, she sobbed, "Oh God, I can hardly say his name, April -- how the hell am I supposed to live like this? It just hurts _so_ much..."

Pulling Rachel in for a firm hug, April tucked her friend's head beneath her chin and held her tightly as she listened to her weep. "Shh" she gently soothed, "it's alright...you just cry as much as you want."

Rachel laughed bitterly. "Cry as much as I _want?_ My God, I feel as if I've cried a full year's worth of rain as it is! It's like no matter what I do or say, he's always on my mind with his impish little smirk. He had such a beautiful outlook on life, April, and it wasn't long before I realized that I wanted to experience that beauty for the rest of my days."

April swallowed the lump in her throat. "Oh, Rach, I had no idea..."

"Yeah, I don't think he knew how I felt, either" she mumbled, her eyes glistening with guilt. "I didn't tell him I loved him nearly enough..."

"Well maybe so, but most men don't need that sort of reaffirmation."

"But I _wanted_ him to know" Rachel insisted, her brows furrowing as she hugged herself for support. "Hell, I know this is awful brash to say, but I seriously feel like I want to just curl up and die right now."

April gasped. "Rachel don't say that! I know things are hard at the moment, but I promise things will get better."

"And how do _you_ know?" she bitterly growled out. "Did you ever lose the love of your life?"

"No..."

"Did you ever wake up and feel as if you no longer had a reason for being?"

"Well no, but..."

"Then don't you tell me how to feel!" Rachel snarled, her eyes like frozen ice chips as April quivered beneath her gaze.

"Rachel, I'm so sorry..."

"Yeah, I'll bet you are" she bitterly choked out. "You've got your perfect life with your perfect looks, your perfect family, and your perfect boyfriend. How the hell do you expect me to feel now that the only perfect aspect of my life is _gone!?"_

"Rachel, _please..."_

"Shut up!" she sobbed, "Just please, get out! Get _out!"_

Appearing as if she'd been mortally wounded, April moved to console her friend, but Rachel cruelly lashed out at her before she could be embraced. With a tearful sniff, April whispered a hushed farewell and left the poor girl sobbing across her bed.

--

_'Did you mean it, Jack? Will you really keep Papa away from me?'_

_'Yeah, of course I will, Squirt.'_

_'You promise?'_

_'I promise.'_

"Liar" Jack whispered, unaware that he'd spoken aloud as he continued to lie on his side. The pain in his cheeks had considerably subsided, he'd noticed, but it couldn't possibly compare to the physical pain in his heart. Little Penny was gone now because of him, and it was all because he'd wanted to get to second base with Rachel. By _God,_ the very thought made him want to retch.

Whimpering, Jack curled in on himself across the dusty floor, his eyes blearily taking in his surroundings as he briefly forgot where he was. If he remembered correctly, he'd fled his home and taken refuge inside a building under construction. Using some black thread that he'd snagged from his mother's drawer, he'd also taken care to sew up his lacerations. If at all possible, this hurt even more than the actual incisions, but somehow Jack reveled in the pain since he deserved it; he _knew_ he did.

Running a finger along his black-threaded smile, he winced when he realized how dry and itchy his lips felt. Licking repeatedly at the chapped flesh, Jack grumbled to himself when he realized how unaffective his saliva was.

_'Soooo, how does it feel to be a, uh...mur-der-er, hmm? Didn't we just rev-el in the taste of that cocksucker's buh-lood?'_

Jack jolted to attention, but as he gazed frantically around him, he discovered that there was no one within the immediate vicinity. "H-hello?" he called, wincing at the hoarseness of his own voice. When moments ticked by and no one came forward, Jack moved to lie back down when the voice spoke again.

_'My, my, we really _are_ new to this, aren't we? No or-gas-mic response? No smiiiiile?'_

"I'm dreaming" Jack declared, nodding once to reaffirm this, "my God, I'm actually _dreaming..."_

A chilling laugh rang throughout his ears in response, the mystery voice 'tsking' once before admonishing, _'Now, now, now, if we keep that sort of talk up, people are bound to think we're cuh-ray-zy.'_ Before Jack could even think to reply, the voice coldly added, _'Now that the cocksucker, the bitch, and that lit-tle blonde brat are out of the way, we can fin-al-ly come to fruition!'_

"Shut up!" Jack snarled, beating his head with his fists, "Just shut _up!"_

_'Whoo, we like our spunk, Jack, we do, we do! Hit us again, Jack, c'mon! Hit us!'_

Releasing a gutteral wail, Jack gripped at his hair and bowed his head in between his knees, his breathing coming in sharp, uneven breaths that left him considerably light-headed. Drooling from his parted, aching lips, Jack's eyes went slightly out of focus as the voice taunted, _'Aww, feelin' sorry for ourselves, are we? If you'd just quit pissin' around, we could actually, uh...a-venge lit-tle Penny.'_

Jack finally seemed to perk up at this, his head rising from his hands as he asked, "Yeah, well how? I've already killed my father..."

_'No, no, no, you fool, think a minute! Lit-tle Penny was worth at least a thousand lives, don'tcha think?'_ When Jack nodded dumbly, the voice pleasurably sustained, _'Well then, don'tcha think we should, uh...take at least a thousand lives for her oh-so-char-ming memoryyyy? Just think of it, Jack! All that buh-lood...all that chaos and de-struc-tion!'_

Trembling, Jack doubled over on all fours and began to retch. As bile rose in the back of his throat, he closed his eyes and gagged on his vomit, the acidic mixture burning along his stitches until tears of pain came to his eyes.

_'Penny'_ he thought, _'Oh God, oh God, oh God...'_ Sinking back onto his rump, Jack rubbed at his face and realized that he was once again in control of his own faculties. By God, had he really imagined that chilling voice? Because Lord knows he was stressed enough to have suffered a small hallucination...

Laughing to himself, Jack rolled his eyes as he jokingly declared that he was going insane. Unfortunately for him, he'd failed to notice how his expression of mirth had mimicked the strange laugh in his head.

--

Threading her engagement ring through a gold chain, Rachel secured it around her neck before stepping forward and gazing back at her reflection. Her eyes were blood-shot and lined with smeared kohl, the hair that she'd so carefully swept back now falling across her red and blotchy cheeks like a gnarled aegis. This was a face in mourning, she decided, and yet this didn't help the fact that she looked like hell. Even though everyone at the service had been incredibly supportive, she was still well aware that they all viewed her as something to be pitied. She was no longer Rachel Dawes, but "that poor thing who lost her fiancé to some heinously cruel act of fate".

Fingering the ring in between the swell of her breasts, she found herself briefly contemplating suicide when a sudden 'thud' echoed out on the fire escape. Abandoning the mirror in a panicked rush, Rachel thrust open the window and peered outside, her eyes widening when she discovered nothing but a playing card...a _Jack._ With trembling fingers, Rachel lifted the card off the grated platform and held it up to the light, her brows drawing together as she read the words _'Goodbye doesn't mean forever.'_ Now glancing about her as if expecting to find her mysterious caller, Rachel sighed and chalked it up as the joke of a cruel and merciless prankster. As she closed the window and went back to her incessant brooding, she failed to notice the dark figure huddled by the foot of the fire escape.

**A/N** - Yeah, so that sucked major you-know-whats. I'll admit it was a filler chapter, because the next one takes place six years into the future. If you're squeamish about non-con, violence, language, and all that "fun stuff", you may not want to keep reading, because CH 5 definitely takes on a dark turn. There will be comic relief peppered throughout, but probably not enough to make this a light-hearted story. Anywhos, hopefully you enjoyed this despite the short length (THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!).


	5. Ghosts of the Past

**A/N** - _WARNING_: This chapter contains rape and other slightly disturbing elements, so if that sort of thing offends you, please do not read.

**CH 5: Ghosts of the Past**

"And you're _sure_ you have all the papers on the Anderson case? Yeah? Ok good, I'll be sure to drop off the affidavit in the morning. Goodbye."

Hanging up the phone on her desk, Rachel gave a start when a warm voice suavely cut in, "Friend in need?"

"Bruce!" she exclaimed, placing a hand over her chest, "Dear God, you _scared_ me -- Harvey said you wouldn't be coming until later."

"Well should I leave and come back in an hour?" he teased. When Rachel failed to answer, the playboy pulled something soft and silky out from behind his back...an evening gown. Noticing her eyeing it inquisitively, Bruce wryly explained, "Harvey asked me to give you this, so I guess I've officially been demoted to messenger boy. Pretty nice, eh? You'll be the belle of the ball at the fundraiser tonight."

"And let me guess, I have to be home by the stroke of midnight?" Rachel gibed, her eyes boggling when she finally got a good look at the turquoise, matronly gown. "My _God,_ where did Harvey find that thing, his mother's _closet?"_

Bruce chuckled as he hung the dress on her coat rack. "Now, now, now, did your mother teach you to be such an ingrate? I know the guy has some real spiffy hair and all, but that doesn't mean he has good taste in women's clothing. I mean, all we men _really_ care about is if your clothes match our carpet when you take them off."

Rachel smiled wryly. "Oh, yeah? I should've known the silken panties Harvey gave me had an ulterior motive." Stacking a load of papers into a drawer, she distractedly added, "Anything else on your mind? As far as I know, that dress was the only surprise Harvey had in store for me, and I don't know about you, but I think I've had _enough_ surprises for one day."

"Well what's one more?" Bruce asked, a soft smile upon his thin lips. "I know today's always been rough for you, so I figured I'd get you a little something to brighten up the day." Before Rachel could even argue, Bruce placed a small figurine of a star onto her desk. It was beautiful, but simplistic, the genuine crystal glinting in the light as Rachel gave Bruce a questioning look. "It's to match the picture that Ja -- uh, _he_ gave you all those years ago. I know it's not much, but I immediately thought of you when I saw it."

"Oh, Bruce..." Placing a hand over her heart, Rachel blinked back tears as she gazed upon the crystal star, her fingers subconsciously touching the ring around her neck as she slowly shook her head. "How can I ever thank you? Even though I've constantly mistreated you over the past six years, you've always been _so_ good to me, and I..." Rachel sniffed. "...I'd just like to say thanks for being such a great friend. I only wish that I'd realized this _before_ Jack's passing."

"Yeah, me too" Bruce softly agreed, "but hey, no hard feelings, right? I just want you to be happy, and it would seem that Harvey's doing a bang-up job of making that happen."

Rachel smiled weakly. "Yeah, he's great -- real great. I'm really glad you introduced us."

As Bruce moved to give a small response, a redheaded blur burst into the room in full excitement, its voice reaching up to the heavens as it exclaimed, "Hello, hello, hello, you're lookin' at the _new_ and _improved_ Lieutenant Stephenson! Oh, and guess what, ladies? He's single!"

Rachel laughed as she rose from her desk. "Craig, what on earth are you doing here? I'm pretty sure Gordon won't approve of you flouncing around all over the place like this."

"Well why not? It's my lunch break!" he innocently defended. "And besides, I wanted to swing by to make sure you weren't wearing red to the thingy tonight. April would _flip_ if you are since it took her _five_ damn shopping trips to find the perfect tux for me, so just lemme know the color you picked, alright?"

"It's some ugly turquoise thing" Rachel grumbled, a smile tugging at her lips when she noticed Bruce's pleased expression. "If it helps any, I think our outfits will coordinate fairly well together, so you can spend the evening with me."

Craig grinned. "Sorry, but no can do, Racheroni. Gordon's got me signed up as security for the evening, so I've gotta stand around and act all tough."

"In a red _tux?_ Yeah, _real_ intimidating" Bruce teased.

"Hey, I'll have you know that red is the color of _confidence,_ buddy, so you remember that the next time you see me!"

Grinning, Rachel added, "Yeah, maybe the notorious Batman should trade in his kevlar for the dipped-in-ketchup look."

Bruce gave her a warning glare, but it immediately melted away when he realized how happy she was. It had been _so_ long since he'd seen Rachel look that radiant, and he wasn't about to be the one to take that glow away. Sending her a warm smile, he reluctantly announced, "Welp, I've got to go pick up my suit for the evening, but I'll see you two later tonight."

Craig grinned cheekily. "Mmm, well tell your hot mama I said hello!"

"Craig, for the last time, his name is _Alfred!"_

Stifling a giggle, Rachel averted her eyes and pressed her lips together as Bruce left the room, both she and Craig bursting into a fit of laughter once they knew they were alone.

"Oh man, you are _so_ bad!" she admonished, now red in the face as she choked on a laugh. "You know how much he hates that joke by now!"

Craig grinned. "Well yeah, but _he_ knows how much I hate it when he flirts with you, so he had it coming. I mean, c'mon, a crystal _star?_ What a lame-o!"

Rachel's cheeks burned crimson. "H-how long were you listening?"

"Long enough."

"I see..." Keeping her gaze glued firmly to her desk, she mumbled, "I don't have feelings for Bruce, if that's what you're worried about."

Craig winked. "Well good, 'cause I was hoping I could get appointed as a priest or somethin', and then I could perform your wedding ceremony to da Harvster. Can't you just picture it?" Holding his arms up in a dramatic flourish, he mockingly recited, "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife...you may now do the bride."

_"Craig!"_

He laughed. "What, you don't like my little alteration?"

"Well to be fair, it sounds like the name of a porno" Rachel admitted. "And besides, I'm not so sure that there _will_ be a wedding in our future."

"Uh-oh, trouble in paradise?"

Sighing, she mumbled, "No, no, it's just that I still don't think I'm ready for marriage. Harvey's been asking me for the past month now, so I'm waiting for the day when he says 'You know what? I've had it!'."

"If he's the right guy, it won't be like that" Craig gently assured her. "When it's all said and done, he'll be willing to wait for you as long as it takes."

Rachel looked up from the floor and gave him a surprised smile. "Wow" she remarked, "you sure wouldn't know it, but you've actually got quite a bit of common sense floating around in that brain of yours."

Craig grinned. "Well, I come through every once in a while..."

Laughing, the two linked arms and set off for a non-permitted lunch break.

--

"Why's everyone staring at me like that?"

"You're the guest of honor, Harvey -- people are _bound_ to stare."

"Well yeah, but it's making me uncomfortable" he complained.

"Aww, well heaven forbid _you_ be uncomfortable for a little while" Rachel teased. "You spend hours grilling criminals in the hotseat, so I guess it's only fair that you finally get your turn." Noting the look of concern in Harvey's eyes, she hurriedly added, "Now don't worry, you won't have to write a speech or anything -- Bruce will probably introduce you for a couple minutes, and then after that you and I can make our grand disappearing act."

Harvey grinned devilishly. "I _love_ the way you think, my little jezebel -- makes me wish we could go home and celebrate this thing our _own_ way."

Wincing, Rachel maneuvered around his outstretched arms with a firm _"Don't"_, Harvey watching on in bewilderment as he demanded, "Well what'd I do wrong? We've been dating for two years now, so I think it's ok if we _finally_ start talking about taking our relationship to the next level."

"I can't" Rachel whispered, her heart giving a torturous dive, "I _can't."_

His eyes coloring in recognition, the DA released a frustrated growl before snarling, "Christ, Rachel, the guy's been dead for six years -- let it _go!_ You said so yourself that you didn't lose 'it' to him, so the subject matter shouldn't be so damn taboo!"

"Oh!" Bursting into tears, Rachel reared back and struck Harvey across the face as hard as she could, her voice cracking as she sobbed, "No, I _didn't_ lose 'it' to him, you _pig,_ and I don't plan on losing it to _you,_ either! Just get out of here -- go on, get out, get out, get _out!"_

Not even caring about the looks they were receiving, Harvey gave a heated "Fine, have it your way" before storming back toward the elevator, Rachel quickly wiping away her tears as she felt a hand come down on her shoulder.

"Need a friend?" Bruce asked, his voice surprisingly soft.

Biting her lip, Rachel slowly turned and nodded, her hand touching his arm as she agreed, "Yes, if it isn't too much trouble -- I know you'll hate me for this, but could you go downstairs and try to smooth things over with Harvey for me? Tell him I'll leave -- it's his party, after all."

Bruce gave her a bitter smile, but like the good friend he was, he willingly agreed. "Yeah, sure thing, Rach, but just remember that you owe me big time."

"Well hopefully it'll be something I can afford" Rachel teased, a grateful smile coming to her lips as she watched Bruce head toward the elevator. Once he was out of sight, her lips drooped into a frown and she made a prompt beeline for the refreshment's table. A bountiful array of goods laid spread out before her, but what she truly wanted was a flute of the bubbly champagne found alongside the shrimp.

Selecting a glass with a shameful amount of eagerness, Rachel tossed her head back and swallowed the corrosive liquid in one burning gulp. It slid down her throat like fiery gold, but the sensation was so soothing that she found herself going back for another glass. As she did so, she barely had time to react before the sound of a loud, hollow gunshot filled her ears and pounded through her chest like a drum, her blue eyes widening as she spun around and took in the sight of a well-dressed, gun-wielding clown.

"Goo-ood evening, la-dies and gen-tle-men -- we are tonight's entertainment" he drawled, his odd, nasal voice almost turning hostile as he held his firearm out before him. Now aiming the gun toward each guest he passed, he began asking for someone by name..._Harvey Dent._

"Oh, God" Rachel breathed, her hand coming over her heart as she fell into a cold sweat. With any luck, Harvey and Bruce were still talking downstairs and would have the sense to _stay_ there. Even though Rachel wasn't particularly up to date with the specifics on this new criminal, she knew enough to discern that a run-in with the Joker meant certain death.

In accordance with this thought, Rachel perked back up when one brave soul coolly ventured, "We're not intimidated by thugs!"

The entire room fell deathly silent, only the sound of a rattling dish being heard as the Joker approached the man with an inquisitive eye. "You know" he thoughtfully began, "you remind me of my father..." Seizing the old man viciously by the back of his neck, the clown prince felt a sense of pride when he witnessed his victim's fear. It oozed from his pores like the sweat dripping down his face, and the Joker couldn't help but lay it on thick as he growled out, "I _hated_ my father!"

With a sense of helplessness bursting within her breast, Rachel pushed her way through the crowd and clenched her fists, her eyes wild and dangerous as she thundered, "You leave him alone!"

The Joker immediately stopped heckling the old man, his predatory eyes sliding away from his victim in order to take in the sight of a proud, sickeningly confident female. Grinning over the excitement of a new challenge, he pushed the old man to the floor and turned to Rachel with a high-pitched giggle. "Well hel_-lo_, beautiful!" he greeted, giving her an appreciative once-over. "You must be Harvey's lit-tle_ whore!"_

Setting her jaw into a firm, grim line, Rachel glared back at the Joker as he began to jauntily approach her, his thumb now caressing his blade as he observed her with a newfound interest. Now so close that Rachel could feel his breath on her skin, the Joker twisted his scarred lips before revealing, "Y'know, you remind me of someone I once knew..."

Averting her gaze down to the tiled floor, Rachel swallowed and subconsciously dug her nails into her upperarms, a small yelp escaping her lips when he seized her by the hair and viciously yanked her closer.

"She was, uh..._beautiful,_ like you, and she was just as much of a _struggler"_ he crooned, his blade now flicking against the svelte curve of her cheek. "Wanna know how I killed 'er?"

Rachel whimpered in response, so the Joker giddily tilted his blade so that it ran along the full arc of her lips. Leaning in so close that it seemed he was trying to tell a secret, he eagerly whispered, "I, uh, met this _girl_ in the streets one day, and she was looking for a lit-tle bit a' money, so I thought I'd, uh...give her a _try._ She was one of those blonde, skinny types -- I personally like a little meat on my women, y'know? -- but she took me back to her place so we could _play."_ Licking his lips, the Joker looked to the left, then to the right before pleasurably sustaining, "Apparently I didn't know how to play her games right, 'cause she started screaming and _screaming_ when I began cutting her to pieces. I just wanted to see how her blood tasted! Is _that_ such a crime?" Not even waiting for a reply, the Joker licked along the curve of Rachel's cheek and gave a small, pleased little moan, a grin stretching his lips as he purred, "But what about _you,_ Miss As-sis-tant D_A?_ Shall we find out how good _your_ blood tastes?"

Shivering in disgust, Rachel turned her head away, but the Joker seized her by the chin and forced her to look deep into his dark irises. They were cold and lifeless, like a doll's eyes, and Rachel felt her stomach churn as his lips curled back into a yellowed sneer.

"If you didn't wanna play, you should've kept your big mouth _shut"_ he hissed, Rachel giving a cry when he punched her in the gut and sent her sprawling onto her backside. Coughing and wheezing, Rachel moved to crawl to safety, but the Joker seized her by the ankle and began pulling her back toward him. "Ah, ah, ah, Princess, you can't leave me just yet!" he condescendingly chided. "After all, just look at all the _fun_ we're having!"

"You leave her alone, you sick freak!"

Looking up with a start, Rachel's eyes widened in panic once she saw Craig standing with his gun in hand, his brows furrowed in grim determination as he kept it aimed straight at the Joker's head. "Just back away slowly and drop your weapon" he urged, his eyes meeting with Rachel's as he gave her a reassuring smile. Unfortunately for him, that brief distraction allowed one of the Joker's goons to smack him across the face with their firearm, Craig giving a pained shout as he fell back onto his rump and clutched at his bleeding nose.

_"Craig!"_ Rachel shrieked, her hands covering her mouth in horror as more goons aided their friend. Kicking and striking Craig as he laid prostrate on the floor, the goons held him in place as the Joker gave a disappointed click of the tongue.

"I trust that no one _else_ will try to play the hero?" he mockingly demanded, his voice almost sounding bored as he twirled his knife along his fingers. As he did so, Rachel moved to kick him across the face with her stiletto, but he easily caught her by the ankle. "Oh-ho-ho, you're a real _spitfire,_ aren't you?" he mocked, his fingers digging painfully into her skin as he began to lick, nip and suck his way down her long, slender leg. Growling against her soft skin, he shifted so that he wouldn't aggravate his erection and grinned up at Rachel. "Aww, don't you like that?" he cooed, promptly pinching her thigh so that she gave a pained yelp. Giggling at her predictable response, he then brought his blade to the hem of her dress, but this time Rachel managed to successfully nail him across the face with her heel.

Giving a whoop of a laugh, the Joker giddily caught Rachel by either leg and pulled her forward so that their hips melded snugly together, his dark eyes burning into hers as he purred, "Y'know, I think I'd like to take you some place more, uh_...private_. That way you can scream as _loooud _as you want."

Feeling tears burning along her lashes, Rachel found that she could only glare back at him in response, a startled cry escaping her lips when he began grinding his throbbing erection against her nub.

"Mmm, doesn't that feel _gooood?"_ the Joker cooed, his eyes rolling back in his head as he continued to frantically jerk his hips against her own. "Doesn't it just make you _wet_-uh?" Giggling against the crook of her neck, the clown prince shuddered like a virginal teenager before suddening ceasing his actions, his eyes wild and determined as he seized Rachel by the hair and yanked her roughly to her feet. Now holding his jacket open in order to reveal several tiny explosives, he smugly announced, "If anyone tries to follow me and Harvey's lit-tle bunny, I'll blow you all skyyy-hiiigh." Sending Craig a pleased smirk, he lowly added, "Not quite worth being the hero now, eh?"

Craig looked as if he were going to do something stupid, but to Rachel's utmost relief, he remained on the floor as the Joker giddily dragged her toward the elevator. As she found herself being thrust past the open doors, she somehow managed to lock eyes with Alfred over by the refreshments table. He appeared so lost and helpless as he watched her, but instead of gratitude for his concern, Rachel felt nothing but shame... Shame for having allowed the Joker to win and demean her in front of all her friends and colleagues. But then, wasn't that what this monster wanted? According to the tabloids, he enjoyed targeting government officials and those who served justice, so didn't that put her on the chopping block as well?

Rachel couldn't help but give a humorless laugh at this realization. She should've known! The fundraiser had left every single person of importance at risk, but she'd failed to see this and warn Bruce in advance. By _God,_ she couldn't believe how stupid she'd been!

"Care to fill me in on what's so funny? I just _love_ a good laugh" the Joker purred, his eyes glimmering with mirth as he slowly approached her.

Realizing that she must've laughed aloud, Rachel felt her cheeks grow hot as she wedged herself into the furthermost corner of the elevator. Keeping her gaze firmly diverted, she pitifully choked out, "You don't have to do this, you know. I-I've got connections, so I could get you money or whatever it is you've come for."

The Joker gave a derisive snort. _"Money?_ Oh, puh-_lease,_ honey bunch, you actually think I want _money?"_ Waving the hand with his blade, he dismissively argued, "Only _fools_ ask for money -- I want anarchy, chaos...de-_struc-_tion."

"Well I'm afraid I can't give you those" Rachel coolly returned. "Anything that's against what Gotham stands for, _I'm_ automatically against."

The Joker clicked his tongue. "Well that's alright, beautiful, 'cause you can help me in, uh..._other_ ways, too."

Immediately getting his meaning, Rachel held her arms out in front of herself as if this would stop him, her eyes narrowing as she warned, "If you touch me, I'll rip your balls off and feed them to my cat!"

Giggling uproariously at her threat, the Joker hopped up and down like a child while exclaiming, "I like you, Miss As-sis-tant DA, I do, I _do!_ Such spunk...such _vi_-o-lence. It's a wonder I've never thought of visiting you before!"

Moving to give a snarky retort, Rachel cried out when the Joker seized her by the hair and pulled her against him, his moist tongue now gliding across her lips as he purred, "I haven't had a spunky woman in a long, _long_ time, Miss Dawes, so I'm sure you can tell it's nothing personal when I say I need this. It'll be quick and painful, I _prom_-ise."

"Perhaps if you tried a different approach, you'd have more women" Rachel snarled, her eyes prickling with tears as she felt his hand drift along her hemline. "I fail to see why I should suffer for something that you and you alone can fix."

The Joker giggled at her peevish response, his tongue reflexively licking his lips as he watched her squirm beneath him. "Aww, shh-shh-shhh, no need to be so bitter" he cooed, his hand touching her cheek as she promptly turned away. "Has _Harrrrvey_ been mistreating you in the bedroom? Do you not get enough, uh..._pleasuuuure?"_

"That's _none_ of your business!" Rachel spat, only to give a squeal when his blade flicked against the neckline of her dress. With a ridiculous amount of expertise, the Joker sawed through the homely gown with little to no effort, a predatory grin tugging at his lips once he took note of her lacy lingerie.

"Mmm, niiiice" he purred, his hand eagerly cupping a breast. "I wouldn't have taken you to be the sexy lingerie type, what with your being such a stuffed shirt and all, but I like it...I like it a _lot-_uh."

"Yeah, I'll bet you do" Rachel seethed, tears streaming down her cheeks as he lowered his mouth to her skin. Wincing at the sensation of his teeth and tongue upon her breasts, she gripped at his hair with the hopes of pulling him loose, but the Joker clearly misinterpreted her actions and giggled.

"Mmm, you _like_ that, huh?" he purred, his lips now brushing against her neck as he slowly made his way to her mouth. "You, uh, like this more than you're letting on, _don't_ you? I guess you really _are_ Harvey's lit-tle whore!"

Before Rachel could give a vicious rebuttal, the Joker crashed his scarred mouth against her own and gripped at her hair, his tongue storming past her lips as he began to rub his throbbing arousal against her crotch. Eyes watering, Rachel tried not to gag once the taste of cheese and onions pervaded her senses, her small frame trembling as the Joker slipped a hand down his pants and began to stroke himself. Growling against her lips, his tongue battled with hers as he continued to thrust into his awaiting hand, his grunts and moans leaving Rachel with a queasy feeling as his fingers brushed against her panties.

Breaking free of the kiss with a gasp for air, Rachel looked up at the clown prince with big, pleading blue eyes as she begged, "Please..._please_ stop."

The Joker grinned at this pitiful display, but not out of mercy. Dipping his fingers past the thin, flimsy barrier of her panties, he began to finger her dry opening until he felt something soft and spongy that caused him to laugh. "Ah, so maybe you _aren't_ Harvey's lit-tle whore" he observed, licking at the tears on Rachel's cheek as she sobbed bitterly. "Were you, uh...saving yourself for _me,_ by any chance?"

"Go to Hell, you _pig!"_ Rachel seethed, tears blinding her vision as she watched him eagerly unzip his pants.

Pushing his trousers down to his knees, the Joker began stroking his erect member as he got off on her fear, a little moan escaping his lips as he watched her breasts heave amidst her terror. "Oh, my dear lit-tle Miss DA" he sighed, "you're so, uh...de-_lect-_able when you're scared."

Choosing to glare back at him in response, Rachel swallowed sharply when he pocketed his blade and tugged at her panties, her eyes closing in fear when she felt him press longingly against her entrance.

"Please don't" she begged yet again, her throat feeling tight and restricted as she choked on her tears. _"Please!"_

Suddenly freezing abruptly in place, the Joker (to Rachel's delight) backed away, but only to lick his hand and rub saliva along his swollen tip. "You're drier than the Sahara, sweetcakes" he explained, a feral glimmer coming to his eyes as he eagerly repositioned himself. When she began to cry harder than before, he sighed while insisting, "Look, I could've just driven on in there without any consideration for your comfort, whatsoever, so in the long run you should be _thanking_ me, sweetheart."

"What, thank you for _raping_ me!?" Rachel sobbed.

The Joker gave her a look of mock horror before bursting into a fit of giggles, his voice now low and husky as he purred, "Well if I'd've known you were gonna thank me for this, I would've done it a _whole_ lot sooner", a low grunt escaping his throat as he thrust forward and buried himself deep inside Rachel's everlasting warmth.

With an agonized scream, Rachel clawed at the Joker's shoulders as a sharp, splitting pain ripped throughout her center, her eyes squeezing tightly closed as she felt her warm, thick blood trickling down his shaft and onto her thighs.

Groaning, the Joker began to hammer his hips against her own in a frantic desperation, his eyes rolling back in his head as he choked out, _"God,_ you're tight..."

Sobbing pitifully in response, Rachel whimpered as each thrust caused her head to crack against the metal wall, his nails digging into her hips as he bit her shoulder and growled against the heated flesh. When Rachel's blood pervaded his senses like a fine wine, he gave a small, pleased little moan and raised his gaze in order to observe his trembling conquest. "Rachel" he purred, grinning when she refused to look at him, "don't you wanna know how that girl left such an im-_pres-_sion on me?" When Rachel stubbornly remained silent, the Joker sighed and used his free hand to unbutton the front of his blue, honeycombed shirt, his thrusts now punctuating each word as he spoke, "Theeeere, ya see? She, uh...left me a lit-tle _scar_ there when most women only scream. She actually fought back and left a mark, just like _you_ would."

Rachel found that she could only squeak in response, her eyes widening as she gazed upon the familiar, slightly curved scar by his left nipple. Jack had gotten a scar just like that from a minor car accident...

_Oh God, oh God, oh God!_

In accordance with Rachel's scrutiny, the Joker became taut as a bowstring and pulled out before coming all over her breasts and stomach, his face burying against the crook of her neck as she sobbed, "No, no, oh _God_, no!"

"Well _that's_ a pret-ty odd thing to say after climaxing" the Joker remarked, only to giggle when she choked on a sob. "Awww, you upset 'cause I ruined that Godawful dress? I could always make you a new one!"

"You can't be him" Rachel miserably whispered, her head shaking wildly back and forth as he gave her an inquisitive look. "You _can't_ be my Jack!"

The Joker laughed. "Baby, I'll be whoever you want me to be, but I'm afraid you're right...I can't be this _Jack_ you speak of."

"But the scar" she whispered, "h-he got one that looked exactly like yours eight years ago, and he..." Trailing off, Rachel forced herself to look deep into the Joker's eyes for a hint of humanity -- for a hint of a _soul_ -- but instead found nothing but cold, shrouded darkness amidst a lifeless abyss of brown. This was not her Jack, she decided, but a _monster._

Before Rachel could even think to study him further, the Joker pulled up his pants and started up the elevator, a grin suffusing his lips as he announced, "Well, I sure hate to just screw and split like this, but I've got another, uh..._engagement_ to attend. I'm sure you understand, right, sweetcheeks?"

Rachel found that she could say nothing in return, her lips opening and closing wordlessly as she watched him get off on the top floor. As the elevator doors closed directly behind him, Rachel hugged herself for support and slid down to the bloody floor, a sharp sob escaping her lips as she curled in on herself and wished she would die.

**A/N** - Whew, DONE! That took me SO long to write, and it was ridiculously hard for whatever reason, so hopefully it lived up to your expectations. :-S I also took one helpful reviewer's comment into consideration and altered the beginning so that some of the past 6 years were explained, or rather, I HOPE it tied everything together, haha. Poor Rachel...that scene was hard to write. Hopefully I can get the next chapter up soon, but there are no guarantees since I've got finals next week. GAK! If you revieeeeew, I'll probably update sooner, though. -wink wink nudge nudge- lol


	6. His Other Half

**A/N** - I found it very interesting how some people viewed Rachel's rape as abominable, while others thought it was hot, haha. I was like "Eek, did I do something wrong?" It was supposed to be tragic, but I suppose that the Joker just makes everything sexy. Can't blame him for that! :P I'm a little nervous about this chapter since I've posted it in a few other places first, and half of my readers weren't too enthusiastic about my idea. Guess we're not all psychology lovers, hehe. But anywhos, I've got a little important message at the end explaining a few questions, so other than that, please enjoy! ;0)

**CH 6: His Other Half**

Rachel groaned as the afternoon sun disturbed her slumber, her eyes fluttering open in order to take in the bleary sight of a hospital room. Sterile white walls greeted her senses, as well as an equally sterile white cabinet filled with medical supplies. Feeling a slight pressure on her leg, she lowered her gaze and jumped when she saw a blonde sleeping across her thighs.

"Harvey?" she rasped, wincing when she heard the coarseness of her voice.

Groaning, Harvey slowly rose from her sheets and looked up at her with bleary eyes, his expression immediately turning soft as he breathed "Oh Rachel, thank_ God_ you're awake -- you had me worried stiff!" Now taking her small hand in his, he stroked her palm before asking, "How're you feeling? The doctor said that you were...um..."

"I'm fine" Rachel hurriedly cut in, her eyes now turning hard amidst her pain. "Is Craig alright? I remember him being an idiot and trying to save my life."

Harvey laughed weakly. "Yeah, he's just fine -- aside from his injured pride, the lucky bastard only got a broken nose from the scuffle. It's _you_ who I'm really worried about."

"Well why?"

Harvey balked. _"Why?"_ he reiterated, absolutely baffled, "Christ, Rachel, you were found raped, bleeding and unconscious, and you're asking me _why_ I'm worried about you?"

"I'd really rather we didn't talk about this" Rachel warned. "Isn't it bad enough that I had to participate in this whole ordeal?"

"The police are going to want to question you" Harvey reminded her. "They need to be sure that the Joker wasn't the only one involved in your accident."

"This was _no_ accident, Harvey -- that creep knew _exactly_ what he was doing when he took me on the elevator and...and..." Grasping at her throat, she bitterly blinked back tears before bowing her head, her voice soft and hoarse as she choked out, "Please, I _really_ don't want to talk about this right now, Harvey -- in fact, I don't think I'll ever want to talk about it, again. I'd rather just go back to work and pretend that this never happened, so if you could just convince the doctor to let me go, I could..."

"Rachel" Harvey delicately cut in, "your reproductive organs have suffered considerable damage, so you won't be leaving the hospital any time soon. I didn't want to tell you like this, but you've given me no choice."

Taking in a shuddering breath, Rachel swallowed before asking, "Well will I ever be able to have children?"

Harvey bit his lip. "It's a toss-up, but the doctors are surprisingly optimistic."

"Oh..." Feeling her features contort amidst her sorrow, Rachel heaved a sob before placing her face in her hands and weeping bitterly. Shoulders shaking, she found herself drawing away from Harvey when he touched her elbow, her voice tainted by pathos as she whimpered, "Please, Harvey -- I want to be alone."

"But Rachel, I..."

_"Please."_

Giving her a pained look, Harvey gently rubbed her arm before leaning in and pressing a kiss to her forehead, his tone soft and warm as he returned, "Alright, I'll go, but _only_ if you let me come back later. I'm worried about you, Rachel, and even though I acted like a complete ass yesterday, I'm still very much in love and want to spend the rest of my life with you." Noting her warning look, he imploringly added, "Please, Rachel -- don't cast me aside."

"Just go" Rachel whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks as she leaned further back against her pillow. "Please, Harvey...leave me alone."

Lingering briefly at her bedside, Harvey swallowed sharply before turning and reluctantly granting her request. Rachel watched after him with hollow, tear-filled eyes, but it compared little to the hollowness within her heart. She'd most likely never be able to have children, so what good _was_ she? Harvey may be acting affectionate now, but she knew deep-down that all respectable men wanted nothing more than to pass on their genes, so if she couldn't provide him with that...

Rachel closed her eyes. Oh God, he wouldn't want her anymore, and then she'd have no one because _nobody_ ever desired a used woman; she'd be alone...alone, alone, _alone._

As she laid there in complete agony, she felt a hand gently caress her cheek and she winced, her voice filled with irritation as she snapped, "Harvey, I thought I told you to leave!" When the stroking continued, Rachel opened her eyes in order to give Harvey a piece of her mind, but that's when she looked up into two warm, soft brown eyes filled with sorrow. _Jack..._

With a terrified scream, Rachel moved to sit up and roll to the side, but Jack seized her by the wrists and tried to gently lay her back down.

"No, no" she sobbed, "let me go, you monster, let me _go!"_

Jack wordlessly pulled Rachel in for a fierce embrace, his visage burying against the crook of her neck as he quivered and ran his hand through her hair. Judging by the way his shoulders were shaking, Rachel could tell that he was crying, but this did little to alleviate the nausea in her gut. "I said let go of me, you fucking _pig!"_ Sobbing, Rachel began hysterically slapping and punching his back, chest and head, but Jack only responded by pulling her closer. "I'm sorry" he moaned, his voice strained with anguish, "oh Christ, I'm _so_ sorry..."

Now burying her face against his shoulder, Rachel felt all the fight drain from her weary body as she leaned into him, their soft sobs intermingling as they clung to one another with an inexplicable desperation.

"Why?" Rachel finally asked, her bottom lip quivering. "Why didn't you ever tell me you were alive? Do you have _any_ idea how many sleepless nights I've spent wondering what happened? Wondering how brutally you must've been murdered?"

Jack swallowed sharply, his lips tracing along her chin as he whispered, "I knew he'd make me hurt you, so I had no choice. I wanted more than anything to come back to Gotham, but I couldn't risk your safety."

Confused by this elliptical response, she demanded, "Then what _did_ make you come back if I wasn't enough?"

Jack suddenly pulled away from her sheltering embrace, his dark eyes meeting with hers as he twisted his scarred lips into a frown. "When Harvey came into the picture, I saw an opportunity -- or rather, _he_ did. His goal in life is to wreak havoc upon the established order and cause terror, chaos, and destruction, so he's been using me as a vessel to get his dirty work done. He said that pretty soon he won't be needing me anymore, and that he'll be taking complete control."

"What do you mean, _he?"_ Rachel demanded, a shiver running down her spine as she returned his helpless gaze. "Jack, there _is_ no 'he' because it's all in your head -- you're the Joker, and _you're_ the monster who raped me!"

"NO!" Jack shouted, shaking her firmly by the shoulders, "No, Rachel, I _didn't _rape you -- I swear to God, I'd rather kill myself than hurt you!"

"Well you might as well go ahead and sharpen your razors, then, because you've caused so much damage that I might never have children" Rachel coldly revealed, her bottom lip quivering as a lone tear trickled down her cheek.

Mouth agape, Jack shook his head in denial before giving a shuddering intake of breath, his eyes squeezing tightly closed as he laid his head down on her mattress and shook. "Oh God, oh _God"_ he whimpered, his hands balling into two tight fists, "I'll kill that bastard, I _swear_ I will!"

"Jack, you're _crazy!"_ Rachel sobbed, her heart giving a helpless dive as he raised his head. "I mean, my God, are you even _listening_ to yourself? Do you honestly think I'm going to believe a voice in your _head_ is controlling you?"

Jack swallowed sharply. "Look, I know it sounds crazy, but I swear on my life that it's all true -- after Pen...after P-P-Pen...after the _accident,_ I began hearing this voice, and at first I thought it was just nerves, but it never really went away. After a while, I started having these blackouts -- like, I'd wake up, but I couldn't ever remember certain days of my life. Fortunately for me, I can usually sense when he's going to try and take over, because I get these godawful migraines. Sometimes I can fight him off, but Rachel..." Jack swallowed, his hand now gripping her tightly by the wrist, "It's getting harder and harder to control him, and I'm afraid that one day I won't be able to wake back up."

Rachel opened her mouth to speak, but then immediately closed it, tears streaming down her cheeks as she whispered, "Jack, you really need help... Maybe if I called a doctor, they could-"

"God, don't you think I've already _thought_ of that?" Jack irritably cut in. "No doctor can cure this, Rachel, because the harder I fight him, the harder he pushes back. I'm probably hopelessly insane, but in the long run, my getting treatment isn't going to do anyone any good."

"Well what about _me?"_ Rachel defensively spat. "You said so yourself that you were after my boyfriend, so what if you try to finish the job? With some medication, that might not have to happen."

"Y-your _boyfriend?"_ Jack reiterated, his heart pounding painfully as he gave her a look of utter bewilderment. "You mean, you...and Harvey...?"

"Yes, Jack, Harvey and I are dating" Rachel coolly acknowledged. "If you thought for one _minute_ that I was going to come crawling back to you after all that's happened, you're a lot crazier than I originally thought!"

"But your necklace" Jack pitifully pointed out, "I-I saw your engagement ring, so I thought..."

"You thought _what_, Jack? That I still wanted to marry you?" Rachel demanded, her bottom lip quivering as she gave a derisive laugh. "I _did_ want that, yes, but I'm in love with the Jack Napier from six years ago, not this...this _monster_ I see right now!"

"Is it the scars?" Jack asked, his tone completely injured. "I can understand how you think they make me look like a monster, but..."

"No, Jack, that's not it at all!" Rachel cut in, her features filled with frustration. "I'm more concerned about the murdering, psychopathic voice that allegedly comes out to play every other evening! Don't you think that _that_ is worth being concerned about? I mean, my _God,_ Jack, if I were ever able to give you a child, I'd have to worry about you _murdering_ him!"

Jack's jaw visibly clenched. "I would _never_ hurt a child, Rachel."

"Um, have you _seen_ yourself as the Joker?" Laughing bitterly, Rachel shook her head while insisting, "As that monster, you're capable of _anything,_ Jack, _including_ harming those you claim to love most!"

"But I wouldn't" he weakly insisted, "I _couldn't..."_ Lowering his gaze down to his old, busted up sneakers, he slowly withdrew a rose from the inside of his coat before mumbling, "I love you, Rachel, and I just want you to be happy, even if..." He inhaled sharply. "...even if that means you find happiness with someone else. All you have to do is say you don't love me, and then I promise I'll walk out that door and never come back."

Rachel trembled, her heart feeling as if it were being mangled by a dull blade as she gazed back into his sad, pitiful brown eyes. "Oh Jack, I..."

"Do you love me?" he cut in, his tongue reflexively licking his lips.

Taking a deep, cleansing breath, Rachel glanced down toward her feet and shook her head. "No" she miserably lied, "I don't."

Jack appeared to be genuinely taken aback by her answer, his features contorting into sorrow as he watched her take off her necklace and place it into his awaiting palm.

"I'm so sorry" she whispered, "but we just can't be together anymore...my place is here in Gotham with Harvey."

Trying his damndest not to cry, Jack curled his fingers around the ring and chain before nodding stiffly. "Yeah, ok" he mumbled, careful to keep his eyes on anything but his former fianceé. "I'll just...um...leave, I guess."

As he turned to depart, Harvey made his grand reappearance from the hallway. In his hand was a beautiful bouquet of red roses, this in turn causing Jack to cringe and hide the pitiful rose he had had to offer. Rachel deserved a man like this, he realized. She _deserved_ to have someone who could give her the world, and Jack knew all too well that he wasn't equipped for the job.

Jauntily stepping forward, Harvey beamed his politician's smile and held out his hand for Jack to take. "You must be a friend of Rachel's" he warmly observed. "I'm Harvey Dent, but don't let those ads fool you -- I'm a _complete_ dick."

Not even cracking a smile at his joke, Jack ignored Harvey's outstretched hand and promptly ducked to the side, his head bowing as he shoved his hands into his pockets and left without a word.

"Wow, so who's the rude guy?" Harvey demanded, his features twisting in grim disapproval.

Careful to keep her pained gaze directed toward her lap, Rachel fingered the spot where her ring used to be and sighed. "He was no one" she softly explained, "no one at all."

--

_'Why're we running away, Jack? Dis-ap-poin-ted that your lady love doesn't want you anymoooore?'_

"Go away" Jack hissed, his eyes narrowing as he continued to walk through the backstreets of Gotham. Ignoring the odd looks he was beginning to receive, he quickly ducked into an alley and made his way through the sludge and mire.

_'Oooh, _I _see. You're jealous, aren'tcha? You're just mad 'cause I got to lit-tle Miss DA before _you _did, and boy, let me tell ya that she's a reeeal de-light-ful lit-tle lay! She's a screamer, and I _like_ that.'_

"Shut up!" Jack screamed, his hands tearing at his hair as he turned and kicked a trash can. "Shut up, shut up, shut _up!"_

_'Ooh, we like that, Jack, we _like_ it! C'mon, show us what you've got! You gonna try and bludgeon us out like the last time?'_

"Leave me alone" Jack pleaded, his breathing growing ragged and harsh, "just leave me _alone!"_ Ripping another trash can from its position, he turned and hurled it across the alley before feverishly kicking a recycling bin. Cans, paper, and other clutter skittered across the ground as he began to shout curses at the sky, hot tears streaming down his cheeks as he envisioned Rachel saying how she no longer loved him. She'd sounded so resigned...so _truthful._

"Hey, you!"

With a start, Jack staggered away from the damage and spun around to face his caller, his eyes widening in surprise when he spotted a well-dressed Italian standing before him. Squaring his shoulders, Jack uneasily demanded, "W-what do you want?"

"You know the Joker?" the man asked, his lips curling up into a sneer as he watched Jack's blatant discomfort. "We 'eard through the grapevine that some punk kid is in cahoots with 'im, an' you seem like just the type."

Realizing that the man was referring to his scars, Jack self-consciously wiped at his mouth before asking, "Well who wants to know?"

_"I _do, that's who -- 'sides, it seems that I jus' got my answer." With a snap of his fingers, the Italian made an indiscreet motion with his hand and Jack whirled around, a pained yelp escaping his lips just as a club connected with his face and knocked him out cold.

**A/N** - To _**esmerelda01**_ - "The Three Faces of Eve" (sorry, I originally said Irene like a complete moron, haha; I haven't taken psych since my freshman semester) is a story/movie based on a real life occurrence of a woman with dissociative identity disorder. This basically means that someone with this illness has multiple personalities or alter egos, so as you can see, I'm going that route for my story. I thought it'd be more effective if I could go through the separate lives of both Jack AND the Joker, because people with this personality don't tend to have memories of their other personalities. In fact, I'm not so sure that they even _know _their other identities, but I bent the rules since the Joker's trying to take over while Jack's "normal", so it'd make perfect sense for him to be aware of the Joker. Hopefully that all makes sense. :P Also, hopefully people will feel more sympathy towards Jack now that they know what's going on; there were a few who decided they hated him because of his actions. Completely understandable, btw!


	7. The Dividend Between Love and Madness

**A/N** - Yes, FINALLY! I am SO sorry for taking forever and a year to update, but inspiration was _not_ coming for this chapter at ALL. Hopefully it's worth it!

_WARNING:_ Sexuality/sensuality/language, ahoy!

**CH 7: The Dividend Between Love and Madness**

When Jack finally awoke, he found himself shackled inside a dark and dingy room. Due to the claustrophobic spacing and musty demeanor, the vicinity was truly reminiscent of an 1800's dungeon, the absence of light almost acting as a panacea to his ever-present headache. Rolling over with a groan, Jack winced as his head pounded like 1,000 horses trampling the earth, his eyes squeezing tightly closed once he realized how much his body ached all over. His center was exceptionally pained, he conceded, and as he looked down at his bruised and naked form, he quickly came to the conclusion that he'd been violated...

"Oh, God..."

Shuddering violently, Jack leaned forward on his elbows and retched onto the cement floor, bile burning the back of his throat as he heard the latch lifting from the padlocked door.

"Anyone awake?"

Glaring up at the visitor through his greasy bangs, Jack spat on the floor before choking out, "Who are you, and why have you taken me here!?"

"One question at a time, if you please" the Italian mockingly urged. Now closing the door behind him, he sauntered forward while explaining, "My name is Salvatore Maroni, but the other details you're probably wondering are insignificant. You know the Joker, and through you we want him to know we mean business."

Jack laughed humorlessly. "So you think holding me hostage will bring the _Joker_ forward? The guy cares for nothing but himself, and even _that's_ a toss-up."

"Then what do you suggest?" Maroni snapped. "That we just continue to wait like fools for his grand reappearance? We hired your friend a while ago, and we expect him to live up to his end of the bargain."

Jack's lips curled downward in disdain. "He is _not_ my friend -- he's hurt me more than you'll ever know."

"Not as much as _we_ can hurt _you"_ Maroni coldly reminded him. Now unzipping his pants, he gave his captive a filthy grin before stroking himself, his tone low and husky as he sustained, "My boys decided to teach you a lesson earlier, but it seems that you still need to learn a thing or two. Forgive me for saying so, but you look a little _tense."_

"Fuck you!"

"Already did, kiddo" Maroni mocked, giving a pleased chuckle as he seized Jack by the hair and pulled him to his knees. "Fortunately for me, this time around you'll be _conscious."_

Wincing at the acute pain, Jack's eyes watered as he pleaded, "Look, don't do this, alright? It's dangerous for the both of us, so if you could just..."

"What, so you actually think you can mess me up while you're _shackled?"_ Maroni demanded. When Jack pitifully nodded in response, the Italian gave a roar of laughter and slapped his thigh. "Well of _all_ the dumbest excuses, this has got to be the worst -- you're just afraid of my sexual prowess since you've heard about us Italians, right?"

Giving a sudden cry of pain, Jack groaned as his headache seemed to flare in its intensity, beads of sweat forming along his brow as he begged, "Please, for the love of God, just _go!_ I don't want to hurt you!"

Maroni chuckled. "Trust me, kid, you should be worrying about _me_ hurting _you."_

"Christ, why won't you just listen to me!?"

Promptly ignoring Jack's pitiful cries, Maroni pushed his trousers down to his knees and forced the blonde back onto the floor. Grinning because of the tears streaking down Jack's cheeks, Maroni kept a hand fisted in his captive's hair and the other on his firm arousal, his lips twisting in confusion when Jack suddenly released a high-pitched giggle.

"And just what the hell's so funny, kid? You think this is a _joke?"_ he snarled.

Jack only giggled louder in response, his voice growing low and nasal as he purred, "You wanna know why guys like you are the way they are?"

"What is this, some sort of...?"

"It's because you're all cowards -- you're all hopelessly a-_loooone._ Does it de-_press_ you to know your only purpose in life is to amuse men like _me?"_

"Shut up!" Maroni snapped, now taking Jack by the hair and flipping him over. "You're garbage, ya hear me? What makes you think I'd listen to a freak like _you!?"_

Jack grinned, but it was a manic expression of mirth. "Uhh, let's see here...I buh-lieve that you already know the answer to that, Mor-_on_-ee. Ya see, men like you need order -- in fact, you _crave_ it -- so when a guy like _me_ comes into the picture, you resort to in-ter-es-ting, uh..._methods_ to subdue the threat of im-pen-ding chaos. When that threat doesn't go away, you start to get scared, and when you're _scared,_ you're damn well gonna listen so you can, uh...fa-_mil_-i-ar-ize yourself with said threat."

Maroni shook his head in disbelief. "You're crazy..."

"Uhh, I buh-lieve it's _you_ who's proven to be the crazy one" Jack returned, a dark grin unfurling across his lips. "After all, I've learned to never trust a guy with a _Glasgow smile."_

Before Maroni could even respond, Jack lunged forward and slipped his shackles around the Italian's neck, a feral glimmer coming to Jack's eyes as he began to squeeze with all his might.

Choking and clawing at the chains cutting off his circulation, Maroni's face turned a frightening shade of mauve as pinpoints of color danced across his vision. "It's you" he wheezed, his eyes bugging out as he struggled for breath, _"Joker..."_

"No, no, not Joker, it's _the_ Joker -- you forgot the oh-so-important article" the clown prince cheekily reminded him, his head tossing back with a shriek of laughter at the joke only he could comprehend.

Drooling past his open lips, Maroni merely gagged in response, his eyes rolling back in his head as he slumped forward and went completely still.

"Hmph, well _that_ was boring" the Joker muttered, his lips twisting in disappointment as he gazed down upon the dead body. Shrugging his shoulders, he then reached into Maroni's pocket and pulled out the keys to his cell, a pleased grin coming to his lips before he apologized, "Well gee, I sure hate to just run out on ya like this, Mor-_on_-nee, but I've got a, uh..._date_ with a hot lit-tle as-sis-tant DA. Say hi to the wife and kids for me, will ya?"

Giggling, the Joker gave Maroni's shoulder a pat as he rose off the floor, his neck cracking as he stretched his bruised, naked body and groaned. His lithe form was covered in nicks and cuts from his rape, but the Joker found the burning pain to be quite delicious. With any luck, Rachel Dawes would give him even _more_ wounds to lament over later on.

--

"Bruce, I'm _fine_ -- what is with all you men and thinking I'm lying? Don't you believe me?" Rachel teased. When her friend smiled weakly in response, it was then that she realized something was wrong. "Bruce, what is it?" she asked, her brow puckering in concern.

Biting his lip, Bruce shook his head before mumbling, "I wasn't there for you when you needed me, and for that I'll never forgive myself... I know I've always promised that I'd never kill anyone, but for the Joker I just might make an exception."

"NO!" Rachel exclaimed, only to cover her mouth once she realized she'd voiced her thoughts. Feeling small beneath Bruce's questioning gaze, she bowed her head before whispering, "You _can't_ kill him, Bruce... He's all I have."

Bruce quirked a brow. "Uhh, am I _missing_ something here? The guy terrorized you at knife-point, brutally raped you, and now you claim he's all you _have?_ Rachel, what the hell does that even _mean!?"_

"I don't know!" she sobbed, "I just...I-I just love him, ok!? Believe it or not, the man beneath the mask is as sweet and docile as the day I met him, and I'd do anything to keep him safe, Bruce..._anything."_

Bruce stared at her with his mouth agape, his head shaking back and forth as he demanded, "Well who in God's name is he, Rachel? Those are things you should be saying about Harvey, not some psychopathic clown..."

"Don't you call him that!" Rachel seethed. "He may be troubled in the head, but I truly believe we can help him..."

"Well who _is_ he?"

"It's Jack" Rachel whispered, her eyes welling up with tears, "Jack Napier."

"No..." Laughing incredulously, Bruce argued, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, that can't be -- Jack's _dead,_ remember?"

"But he's not -- he's very much alive" Rachel firmly insisted. "Didn't you notice how the Joker has a Glasgow smile? Jack's entire family received similar injuries on the night of their murder, so surely that proves-"

"It proves _nothing!"_ Bruce heatedly interjected. "In case you didn't notice, this lunatic took advantage of you without even caring about your well-being!"

"Well that's only because the Joker is Jack's second personality -- while he's that monster, he doesn't remember me at all."

Wiping a hand over his mouth, Bruce shook his head as he allowed all of this to sink in, his gaze softening as he mumbled, "Well you were the closest to Jack, so I guess you'd be the most qualified to know... If you _really_ don't want me to hurt the Joker, I'll do my best to protect him."

Rachel looked up from her sheets in astonishment, her eyes dancing with gratitude as she clasped her hands over her heart. "Oh, Bruce" she whispered, "thank you _so_ much -- I-I really don't know what to say..."

"Thank God for that" Bruce teased, Rachel laughing joyfully as they embraced and gently rocked one another from side to side.

As Bruce felt Rachel's tears seep into his shoulder, it was then that he made his decision: never again would she be hurt because of him, and that was a promise.

--

Clicking on the assistance button for the umpteenth time, Rachel finally gave up and relaxed against her pillows. She was especially achy that evening, so she was hoping to get somewhat of an increase on her medication, but now that there wasn't a single nurse to be found, she realized that she'd be spending the remainder of the night in pain.

_Joy._

As Rachel finally got comfortable amidst her pillows, she gave a jolt of surprise when she heard someone whistling "Secret Agent Man" out in the corridor, her brows quirking as a nurse entered the room with a jaunty bounce to her step. Rachel couldn't see the woman's face since she was pulling a cart, but she seemed cheery enough due to her musical disposition.

"Thank you for coming" Rachel spoke, thus deciding to finally get to the point. "I was hoping you could up my morphine a bit, so if you need permission from the doctor, I..." She paused. "Hey, what's so funny?"

Shoulders shaking with mirth, the nurse twirled around with a kick of the leg and removed her mask, Rachel screaming once a sea of white, red and black became visible to her terror-stricken eyes. Giddily bouncing forward with a syringe in hand, the Joker removed his wig before mounting the bed and straddling his 'patient's' waist, his lips curling back into a sneer as he greeted, "Well hello again, beautiful -- still just as feis-ty as ever, I see." Now leaning in so that their faces were mere inches apart, he purred, "If you, uh...be-_have_ yourself, I might just give you a wollipop."

Infuriated by his jesting, Rachel moved to jab him in the solar plexus, but the Joker easily caught her by the wrist and pinned her arms beneath his knees. "Ah, ah, ahhh" he cooed, "if you, uh...wanted another _go,_ all you had to do was ask!" Shrieking with laughter at the look on her face, the Joker seized one of Rachel's medicinal tubes and yanked it out of her flesh with a fierce _'rip'._

Yelping in pain, Rachel gritted her teeth as her wound began to burn and ooze, her eyes now meeting with the maniac's as she whispered, "Oh, Jack... Jack, sweetheart, I _know_ you can hear me in there, so please... _Please,_ come back to me!"

The Joker cocked his head to the side at her plea, his gaze almost seeming to soften as he returned, "Oh Rachel, my darling, I _do_ remember you......NOT!!!" Giving a gut-busting giggle, he ground his hips into hers and licked her cheek like the dog he was, his sharp nails digging into her skin as he asked, "You, uh...know why I'm here, don'tcha, lit-tle Miss As-sis-tant DA? You know why I _need_ you, riiiight?" In accordance with his words, he hugged her hips with his thighs and began to thrust against her nub, a manic grin coming to his lips when he noticed her close her eyes and shy away from him. "Oooh, do you _like_ that?" he mocked, harshly bucking his hips for good measure. "Does it make you a-_shamed_ to know how wet you're get-ting?"

"Don't make me hurt you" Rachel hissed. "I-I don't want to do something I'll regret..."

The Joker gave a giddy clap of the hands at her response, all the while urging, _"Do_ it! Do something you'll re-_gret!_ When you just keep abiding by the rules, life becomes so _bor-_ing."

"Let Jack go" Rachel pleaded, a pained cry escaping her lips when he bit her neck. "Oh, please...have _mercy!"_

This got the Joker laughing again, his eyes burning into hers as he asked, "Uhh, do I really _look_ like a guy with mercy?" Giggling until tears of mirth came to his eyes, the clown prince nosed her cheek before purring, "I can see that you, uh...really _like_ this Jack guy, but I should warn you that the div-i-dend between love and madness is _veeeery_ thin. In order for one to reach the other, all it takes is just a lit-tle _push."_ In lieu with these words, the Joker roughly thrust his arousal against her sore womanhood, Rachel crying out as she dug her nails into his back and smothered her shouts against his shoulder. He was _hurting_ her, but he didn't seem to care, his hips mimicking her frantic wiggling as he bit down on her throat and growled.

"Jack" Rachel weakly tried again, "Jack, _please..."_

Ignoring her pitiful cries, the Joker retrieved the syringe and brought it to her arm, Rachel giving a panicked shriek the moment the needle entered her flesh and sent the red fluid into her bloodstream. Yelping when the clown prince roughly removed the syringe, Rachel trained her blurry gaze upon him as she choked out, "W-what did you just give me?"

"Never you miiiind" the Joker condescendingly purred. "All that you _really_ need to know is you'll be helping me, uh...get to good ol' White Knight."

With a gasp, Rachel moved to denounce the Joker for all she was worth, but the giggling loon crashed his mouth against hers and bit down until she tasted blood. Feeling him lick her lips and knead a breast, she found that she felt little else as she went limp and entered the frightening world of darkness.

**A/N** - Ok, so to answer your questions, no, the Joker isn't going to strap Rachel to a bomb. I'd like to avoid that whole scenario since I'd like to take a more..."interesting" approach. Or at least I HOPE it'll be interesting! xD lol

Anywhos, I've got a Batman/Harley fic in the works, if anyone feels like checking it out -- I plan on making it uber short, and more humorous than dark (I need a break from the darkness, hehe), so yeah...hopefully you'll like that, too!


	8. Unbreaking the Habit

_WARNING_: Semi-graphic sexual content, violence, etc.

CH 8: Unbreaking the Habit

When Rachel finally came to, her head was fuzzy and pounding like a stampede of elephants. What had the Joker _given_ her?

Groaning in pain, Rachel moved to get up, but that's when she realized she was tied to a chair in a dark and dingy room. In front of her stood a tripod with a blinking camera, her eyes narrowing once she noticed sheets of paper with instructions on what she should say.

"En-joy-ing my lit-tle set-up?"

Jumping in surprise, Rachel felt a wave of nausea bubble within her when the Joker made his grand appearance, her mouth opening to speak just as she realized her mouth was securely taped shut.

"Hmm? What was that, beautiful?" Cupping his ear, the Joker leaned forward and mockingly urged, "I'm afraid that you'll, uh...have to speak _up!"_

When Rachel's muffled curses reached his ears, the clown prince shrieked with laughter before ripping the tape from her mouth, her cry of pain delighting him as he crouched down at her feet and grinned. "I, uh...hope you've got a voice for television, beautiful, because in mo-ments we'll be live on GCN! Just think of it, precious: you'll get to announce my latest game! Isn't that just ut-ter-ly or-_gas_-mic?"

As he giggled and bounced about like a child, Rachel glared down at him with a growing fury within her breast. This man -- no, this _monster_ -- had taken away all that she'd ever loved, and now he thought he could use her as a pawn in one of his _mind games?_

Seething and glaring daggers at her ruthless captor, Rachel reared her leg back and tried to nail him in the shin, but the Joker easily side-stepped her pitiful attack and giggled.

"Ooh-hoo-hoo, you wanna _play,_ do ya?" he eagerly taunted, his gloved hand whipping out his knife as he seized a fistful of her hair and yanked her forward. Sitting down in her lap and bouncing his feet on the floor, the Joker grinned his trademark grin before tracing the tip of his blade along Rachel's cheek. The movement wasn't hard enough to draw blood, but it was definitely capable of arousing fear within his captive's breast.

Wrapping a lock of Rachel's hair around his finger, the Joker clicked his tongue and regrettably shook his head. "Well where'd the spunk all go, _hmm,_ beautiful? You were doing so well! You tried to nail me where it hurts, but now you're just going to sit there and gawp at me like a _fool?"_ When Rachel defiantly chose not to answer him, the Joker irritably opened his hand and struck her clear across the face. "There, _that_ oughta cure you of your speechlessness -- I mean, I know I'm dashingly handsome and all, but this is just getting ri-_dic_-u-lous!"

Feeling tears forming along her lashes, Rachel tried her best to be hostile as she demanded, "Well what is it you want from me? You mentioned at the hospital that you needed me to get to Harvey, but I fail to see how _this_ is going to help you achieve your stupid plan."

The Joker rolled his eyes. "Oh, honey bunch, don't you ever use your ima-gin-_a_-tion? I don't _have_ plans, because I just _do_ things... Your lit-tle Harvey is a schemer just like all the rest of them, and look where _that_ got him. I have his lit-tle bunny in my hold, and now the only thing he can do is wait for darkness to claim him as it oh so buh-_less_-ed-ly claimed me."

"You're a monster" Rachel declared, the tears finally streaming down her cheeks. "First you took Jack from me, and now you're trying to take Harvey? Well I won't let you, do you hear me? I _won't!"_

Cackling with glee over her enthusiastic response, the Joker giddily clapped his hands before bouncing up and down in her lap. "Ooh, I hope you do, beautiful, I hope you _do_ -- if you didn't try and stop me, what would be the _point?_ And heck, if you could get that wing-ed rodent to join in on the fun, it'd be _perfect!"_ Giggling and rocking about like a metronome, the clown prince tweaked her nose before purring, "So how about it, huh, beautiful? You just read the cards, Harvey comes out to play my lit-tle game, and then we _all_ win!"

"Um, how about I say no, Harvey comes and rescues me, and then _you_ go to Arkham Asylum!" Rachel snarled, her tirade being cut short the moment the Joker shoved his blade in her mouth.

"Y'know, you're so much prettier when you _smile,_ and I think I can rem-e-dy that" he purred, his dark eyes swimming with madness as he watched a ruby droplet trickle from the wound on her mouth. Licking it up with a pleased groan, the Joker began petting Rachel's hair as she trembled and squeezed her eyes shut, his lips at her ear as he whispered, "Let's put a _smile_ on that face, shall we?"

Whimpering, Rachel moved to pitifully plea her case when the Joker suddenly growled, his hand dropping the blade as he tore at his hair and snarled between clenched teeth. Watching this display in utter bewilderment, Rachel winced when he gracelessly rolled off her lap and onto the floor, drool dribbling past his lips as he clutched his head and kicked his feet like a child with a temper tantrum.

"No, no, no, _no!"_ he whined, "I'm not fin-ished yet!" Convulsing as if he'd just stuck his finger in an electrical socket, the Joker went completely still and laid there like a painted cadaver.

Biting her lip amidst her tears, Rachel lifted her leg and nudged him with the tip of her shoe, but he failed to respond to her poking and prodding. Heart pounding in her chest like a boxing glove, she moved to nudge him again, but that's when the Joker suddenly shot up with a start, his eyes wide and mouth agape as he desperately gasped for air.

"Jack?" Rachel pressed, her eyes full of fear.

Now turning his dark gaze to rest upon hers, the Joker looked the attorney over as if he'd never seen her in all his life, his tone soft and bewildered as he rasped, "Rachel? My God, what _happened?"_

"N-nothing, I just... Are you ok?"

Rubbing his head, Jack winced as he sat up and turned to face his former lover, his eyes widening once he took in the sight of her bruised and bloody appearance. "Rachel, you're _bleeding!"_ he exclaimed, his shaky form tripping as he struggled to his feet and rushed to her aid. Wiping the scarlet bloom from her lip, he then hurriedly began untying her bonds so she could finally move, his voice notably strained as he demanded, "Did I do this to you? Oh God, I _did,_ didn't I? I can tell by your face!"

Rachel winced, her eyes promptly dropping to the floor as she whispered, "Jack, please take off that make-up...I can't stand looking at that creature any more."

Jolting as if he'd been slapped, Jack reached up and shuddered when he felt the telltale face paint upon his chin, his teeth gritting as he reached into his pocket and fetched a handkerchief. He couldn't bear the fact that Rachel hated the very sight of him, but he knew he couldn't blame her since the war paint made him a monster. The idea that he wasn't himself while applying it made him shiver, his hands making quick work of removing the make-up as Rachel continued to stare at her shoes. By God, couldn't she even _look_ at him? Feeling his heart sink, Jack began to scrub his face with more vigor -- he needed to be clean of that monster...he needed to be _rid_ of him! Feeling the burn of his aggravated flesh, Jack ignored the pain and chafing of his scars, tears blinding his vision as Rachel shouted and pleaded with him to stop.

"No" he whispered, scrubbing more furiously, "he's still there..."

"Jack, _stop_ it!" Rachel shrieked, her hands grasping his wrists as she leapt up and restrained him. When her eyes met with his, she tearfully took the handkerchief from Jack's hands and pulled him into her arms. Gently stroking the tangled green of his hair, she fought back more tears as she whispered, "Now that you're ok again, I think you should know that I've decided to leave Gotham."

Jack visibly stiffened. "What do you mean? When did you decide this?"

"When I was in the hospital after my rape... I knew that as long as I was here, both Harvey and I would be in grave danger. Judging by our present situation, I'd say that I was right."

"But where will you go? I don't like the idea of you being away from my protection..."

"Your _protection?"_ Rachel laughed bitterly, her hand coming over her eyes as she asked, "Are you _kidding_ me? Jack, you're the whole reason why I'm _leaving!_ If you'd just agree to see a doctor, this whole problem could be prevented!"

"You don't know that" Jack irritably shot back, his eyes growing dark over the thought of losing her. "Just hear me out, ok? My Aunt and Uncle have a farm about two hours away from here. If I send you there, they'll be more than willing to take care of you until you're ready to come back."

Rachel sighed. "Jack..."

"No, listen to me! Their house is the safest place for you I can think of, not to mention I shouldn't be able to remember where you are as the Joker" Jack fervently insisted. "If you agree, I can call up Craig and get him to drive you over there right now. With any luck, you'll arrive at the farm before nightfall."

Chewing on the inside of her lower lip, Rachel bowed her head and reluctantly nodded. "Alright" she agreed, "I'll go to the farmhouse, but first I need to call Harvey to let him know what's going on."

"No!" Jack feverishly argued, "We can't have _anyone_ know about this but Craig -- the more people who know, the more likely I'll end up finding out. Got it?"

Rachel sighed and nodded, her lips pressing into a grim line as she touched his arm. "Well, I guess this is goodbye, then..."

"It doesn't have to be" Jack pathetically argued.

"No, maybe not, but until you get the help you need, I'm afraid we won't be seeing each other." Straightening her stance, Rachel coolly added, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go call Craig so he can come and pick me up."

Watching Rachel leave as if their separation were the easiest thing in the world, Jack dug his nails into his palms until they bled, his fury bursting forth as he turned and knocked over Rachel's chair with a violent shove. Damn her for always being right, and damn _him_ for loving her! Sinking down to his knees, Jack grasped at his hair just as he caught sight of his soiled handkerchief, the smeared war paint seemingly mocking him as he balefully narrowed his eyes.

"I won't let you win" he snarled. "This ends _tonight!"_ Seizing his knife from off the floor, Jack determinedly rose to his feet and left with the hopes of making his sacrifices worthwhile.

--

"So _why_ do you want to make a getaway to a _farm,_ again?" Craig demanded, his derisive gaze training upon Rachel as he continued to drive. "I mean, c'mon Rach, if you _really_ needed a break from the office, why not just take a trip to the Bahamas? I'm sure there'd be _plenty_ of manly, scantily-clad natives willing to rub coconut oil all over your body."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Craig, did anyone ever tell you what a _pig_ you are?"

"Well sure, but it always means so much more to me when it comes from _you,_ Rachel" he teased.

Laughing, the two drifted into an amiable silence before Craig decided to turn on the radio. The Hues Corporation blared out through the speakers as he (quite poorly) sang along, "Up to now we've sailed through every storm, and I've always had your tender lips to keep me warm..." Pausing, Craig looked over at Rachel before revealing, "Y'know, I never really understood that line -- why's the guy wanna make a coat out of his girlfriend's _lips?"_

Rachel smothered a giggle and shook her head. "Craig, you are _such_ a dork, but I guess that's why I love you."

He gave a mocking gasp. "Why, Rachel Elizabeth Dawes! I had no _idea_ you harbored romantic feelings for me!"

"Craig..."

"I mean, I know I'm a big stud and all, but..."

_"Craig!_ Shut up and slow down, you goon, you're going to miss our stop!"

Abruptly slamming down on the breaks, Craig smiled sheepishly before acknowledging, "Well I'll be damned, we really _are_ here! And not a moment too soon, either... I'm _starving!"_

"Are you kidding me? You can't just invite yourself to dinner!"

"Well why not? _You_ invited yourself here to live" Craig snidely shot back.

Not wishing to explain her decision, Rachel hugged herself for support as they turned down a gravel driveway leading to an old farmhouse. A middle-aged woman sat on the front porch knitting socks, her features brightening as she raised a hand and waved.

Giving her a one-fingered salute, Craig grinned over at Rachel before revealing, "Well damn, maybe this won't be so bad after all -- if you need any new clothes, that knitting machine over there can just make you something to wear!"

"Craig, you are _such_ a jerk."

He grinned. "Well true, but at least I'm a jerk who thinks ahead." Putting the car into park, he cut off the ignition as the woman rose to her feet, Rachel smiling weakly as she got out of the car and uneasily made her way to the porch.

"Hello" she greeted, "my name is Rachel Dawes, and this is a good friend of mine, Craig Stephenson."

The woman beamed, her starry eyes twinkling as she brushed back a lock of graying chestnut. "Why yes, yes, of course it's you" she eagerly acknowledged. "Sweet little Jack -- God rest his soul -- would talk about you _all_ the time when he'd come to visit. I'll admit I was rather surprised to hear you wanted a tour, but whoever called me seemed so insistent that I couldn't very well say no." Smiling, she warmly added, "My name is Maria Wallace, by the way."

Rachel balked. Jack hadn't even told his favorite _relatives_ that he was still alive? Quickly recovering from her astonishment, Rachel straightened her stance before returning, "Oh, well it's very nice to meet you... I-I wanted to see the one place that Jack spoke so fondly of, so you're right, I suppose I _did_ have to see the place. Judging by the way he described your home, it truly sounded like a little piece of heaven."

"Well _my_ definition of a 'little piece of heaven' is _pie"_ Craig rudely spoke up, grinning as he prayed the woman would get his meaning.

Laughing at the imploring look on Craig's face, Mrs. Wallace smiled as she returned, "Well my husband isn't quite done in the fields just yet, but if you'd like to come inside for some pie, I suppose I can accomodate you."

Winking at Rachel as they were led indoors, Craig admired the interior as they entered a rather small, practical little kitchen.

"The children are upstairs finishing their chores, but they should be down for supper when it's ready" Mrs. Wallace added, a bright smile crossing her lips as she took the foil off the pie. "The girls are _so_ thrilled about meeting you, Rachel -- they loved their cousin Jack like a big brother, so any reminder of the man he once was should bring joy to their hearts."

Rachel smiled weakly, but the warmth never quite reached her eyes. Oh God, how could she possibly face these three girls without bursting into tears? The very thought of speaking to them made her want to retch, so as she woozily swayed from side to side, she grabbed onto a nearby chair and anxiously looked up at her hostess. "M-Mrs. Wallace?" she uneasily began, "May I please be excused until supper?"

Mrs. Wallace appeared rather surprised by this request, but she nodded her consent as Craig eagerly took the offered pie from her hands.

"You feelin' ok, Rach?" he asked, his voice lacking true concern as he shoveled the dessert into his mouth.

When Rachel nodded, she suddenly caught sight of a fairly old picture hanging on the wall, her breath catching in her throat once she realized it was Jack and Penny before the accident. With tears burning along her lashes, she gave a miserable "Excuse me" and placed a hand over her mouth, both Craig and Mrs. Wallace watching on in bewilderment as Rachel left the room sobbing

--

After dinner and Craig's inevitable departure, Rachel found herself standing out back on the long, scenic wrap-around porch to the Wallace home. The skies were dark, drab and grey, but she found a certain comfort in the steady rhythm of the rain as it beat against the rooftop.

Bringing her wine glass up to her lips, Rachel reflected on her evening with a bittersweet smile. The three Wallace children -- Amy, Nora, and Mikayla -- had all been very warm and sweet to her, so she couldn't entirely understand _why_ she'd been so terrified by the idea of meeting them. Perhaps she'd been afraid of seeing the 'normal' Jack in their features, but thanks to the entertaining company of both Craig and the Wallace's, she didn't get a single chance to reflect on Jack or search for any likenesses.

"Rachel, sweetheart?"

Looking up with a start, Rachel smiled before greeting, "Oh, well hello, Mrs. Wallace... Is there something I can do for you?"

"Well" she sweetly began, "there's a visitor who says he has something very important to tell you -- should I send him in?"

Thinking it was Craig with some ridiculous story that he _thought_ was 'important', Rachel nodded and smiled as the middle-aged woman turned and left. The moment a familiar man took her place, however, Rachel's expression of warmth immediately vanished.

"No..."

Dropping her wine glass with a start, Rachel barely even reacted to the shattered glass as Jack slowly approached her, the blue of her eyes narrowing as she snapped, "How _dare_ you come all the way out here...we had an agreement!"

"I'm so sorry, Rachel, but I just had to..."

"No" she hotly interrupted, "you stay away from me!"

"Rachel _please,_ I..."

"Stay _away!"_

Turning from Jack without another word, Rachel pushed open the screen door and went racing out into the pouring rain, wet droplets clinging to her hair and skin as she implored her legs to go faster. Jack wasn't wearing his horrendous face paint, but the determined look in his eyes had been more than enough to frighten her.

"Rachel!" Jack hollered, his voice getting lost amidst the roaring thunder, "Rachel, _stop!"_

"Leave me alone!" she shouted heatedly in response, a sharp cry escaping her lips once she felt his hand clamp firmly about her elbow.

Whipping her around so she was forced to face him, Jack gazed pleadingly into her eyes as his grasp softened ever-so-slightly, his thumb now tracing along her soft skin as he confessed, "I'm sorry for being so selfish Rachel, but I know I'm kidding myself if I think I can stay away from you without going crazy. I-I _love_ you, and I just want to be here with you for the little time we have before _he_ takes over, again."

Rachel gave an incredulous laugh. "Jack, weren't you listening when we talked at the hospital? I _don't_ love you -- in fact, I _hate_ you -- so save yourself the embarrassment and leave now before I force your own _relatives_ to remove you!"

"You don't mean that" Jack weakly returned, "I know you don't..."

"Oh, no?" Stubbornly folding her arms, Rachel dared him with her narrowed eyes to prove her wrong, but that was where she made her mistake.

Yanking her forcefully against his chest, Jack covered her soft mouth with his before a stinging slap burned across his cheek, his lips parting from Rachel's as she pushed him away and turned to run in the opposite direction. Promptly seizing her by the wrist, Jack pulled Rachel back into his arms and fiercely crashed his mouth against her own, her true feelings shining through when she linked her arms about his neck and allowed him to heft her up into his warm embrace.

Tongues battling for dominance, the two staggered back until they collided with the side of the barn, Rachel whimpering as Jack groped, pinched, and grasped at her supple form amidst his fervent exploration. Groaning when she began to grind her hips against his arousal, Jack blindly searched for the latch to the barn before lifting it with shaking fingers, Rachel moaning encouragingly into his open mouth as they ducked inside and stumbled into the hay.

Ignoring the sudden pain from the semi-cushioned fall, Rachel whined as Jack licked from her chin to the tip of her nose, his knuckles turning white as he fisted her hair and rubbed his throbbing member in between her legs. He'd waited so long for this moment, and now that he finally had her in his strong arms, he thought he would surely burst.

Fumbling with the buttons to Rachel's blouse, Jack finally gave up on being gentle and forced the garment completely asunder, his mouth growing dry when Rachel's heaving, lace-clad bosoms became exposed to his lust-filled gaze. The indentation of her nipples pressing against her bra made him groan from deep inside his throat, his arousal aching as Rachel parted her lips and released a breathy sigh filled with reckless abandonment.

Reaching in between their bodies, Rachel gently curled her hand about Jack's throbbing arousal and squeezed, his eyes closing in utter rapture as he gritted his teeth and released a strangled curse.

_RachelRachelRachel_

Thrusting against her open palm, Jack framed Rachel's face with his hands before passionately crashing his mouth against her own, his temperature rising as her other hand traveled down in order to cup his bottom. Her intimate squeezing encouraging him to grind deeper and harder into her awaiting palm, a strangled whimper escaping his throat when she nipped his chin and licked his lips.

_RachelRachelRachel_

Forcing her mouth back over his, Rachel sucked on Jack's tongue as she rolled her hips up to meet with his, her hands pressing down on his rump so that a delicious friction flared between them. Opening her mouth in a silent scream, Rachel closed her eyes and choked on a moan when Jack thrust repeatedly against her nub, her legs wrapping tightly about his hips so the sensations were deepened.

In all her life, Rachel had never known so much pleasure or felt so much love for one person. The very notion that she and Jack were dry-humping one another inside a barn -- and without anyone knowing, at that! -- turned her on more than she'd ever willingly admit. Weaving her fingers through Jack's hair, she pulled him in for yet another searing kiss, her breath catching in her throat when he unfastened her bra and caressed a tingling nipple.

"Jack" Rachel brokenly pleaded, her eyes closing when he lowered his mouth to her soft mound, "Jack, _please..."_

Flicking his tongue over her nipple with a mind-numbling amount of sensuality, Jack kneaded her other breast as he nipped and sucked at the sensitive flesh, his arousal tightening painfully within his pants when Rachel gave a soft, breathy moan. Releasing the hard little bud from his mouth with a wet pop, Jack paused in order to remove his shirt as Rachel panted and gazed longingly upon him. Seeing his biceps flex as he did so made her womb ache, her hips shifting in aroused agitation as he then turned his attention to his pants.

"Jack, hurry" she begged, her eyes veiled with anticipation, "I've been waiting for six _long_ years..."

"So have I" Jack huskily returned, his soft gaze never leaving hers as he dropped his pants down to his ankles. Kicking them off to the side to join his shirt, Jack carefully repositioned himself between Rachel's legs before taking her by the hips, his eyes meeting briefly with hers as he pulled her skirt and panties down in one full swoop. As he did so, his breath caught almost painfully in his throat, for he realized that it was the first time in all his life that he was seeing _all_ of her.

"Oh, God" Jack panted, his hands quivering as he placed them back on her hips, "you're _so_ beautiful..."

"Let me see you" Rachel implored, her hand caressing his cheek as he subconsciously leaned into her touch. "It's only fair, after all..."

Smirking at her almost jesting remark, Jack wordlessly rose and pushed his boxers down to his trembling knees, his adam's apple bobbing amidst her intense scrutiny. He knew she was horrified by the hundreds of scars peppering his body, so his shame caused him to jump in surprise when she pressed her soft lips against his navel.

Licking his skin, Rachel gently kissed and nipped at each mark as she tenderly made her way up his torso, her hands framing his face before she nosed his cheek and kissed the more jagged of his two scars.

Jack shuddered since someone was actually touching them (and willingly, at that), his eyes closing as a painful lump formed in his throat that kept him from speaking. He wanted to tell Rachel that he loved her and still wanted to be married, but he knew that she would most assuredly deny him. After all, who in their right mind would _ever_ put themselves in such a dangerous position?

Feeling Rachel's tongue caress his lips, Jack gave a start when she nibbled on his ear and pleadingly whispered, "Make love to me, Jack -- please, we've both been through so much together, and now..." She sniffled. "...Now all I need is you."

Swallowing, Jack felt his body tremble and shake as Rachel pressed a chaste kiss against his mouth, his breath catching in his throat once she took him by the waist and melded their hips snugly together. Feeling her moist desire over his rock-hard arousal made him groan, his teeth gritting when Rachel bucked her hips and dug her nails into his backside.

"Jack, _please"_ she earnestly entreated, "don't turn away from me now when I need you most..."

No longer able to deny her, Jack pulled Rachel by the hair and forced her mouth over his for a deep and bruising kiss. The expression of love was wanton and frantic, both whimpering as they licked, bit, and kissed one another with a passionate desperation. Staggering back against the wall of the barn, Rachel gasped when Jack lifted her up into his arms and balanced her over his stiff member, their eyes locking as he pressed his forehead to hers and gently eased himself inside her quaking tunnel.

Giving a strangled whimper, Rachel closed her eyes and relished in the sensation of Jack filling her to completion, her nails digging into his back as she rolled her hips up to meet with his gentle thrusts.

"Harder" Rachel whispered, her breasts heaving as she breathlessly nosed her lover's cheek. "Please, Jack..._harder."_

More than willing to comply, Jack steadied her legs around his hips and began to drive into her with an almost animalistic fury. All of his inner frustrations went into his powerful rutting, each stroke dissipating his ire over not being able to have Rachel; over not being able to properly _love_ her.

Gasping as her body continued to smack against the wall, Rachel welcomed the acute pain as she linked her ankles and rode Jack for all she was worth. Sliding up and down his length with breathy little moans, Rachel closed her eyes and no longer felt embarrassment over her passion, her head tossing back as she voiced her pleasure up to the rafters and trembled as she came. Feeling Rachel's inner muscles spasm and clench his member, Jack gritted his teeth before jerking his hips forward and releasing his seed in a burst of liquid fire.

Moaning into the crook of Rachel's neck, Jack unsteadily disengaged himself as his legs began to quiver, his breathing coming in short, soft pants as he dropped down to his knees and kissed her stomach. "Rachel" he whispered, "beautiful, beautiful Rachel..." Kissing beneath her breasts, he rubbed his scarred cheek against her flesh and grasped her hand, his lips falling upon her palm as he breathlessly urged, "Marry me, Rachel...we can go to the courthouse and be man and wife by eight."

"Jack" Rachel miserably returned, "you know we can't do that." Gradually sinking down onto her haunches, she enveloped him within her arms and gently kissed his mouth, her eyes reflecting genuine sorrow as she whispered, "If we went and got married, our problems would still be waiting for us right when we came back. The Joker still lives inside you, Jack, and you can't just expect that to go away."

"Maybe so, but I can fight him" Jack returned in a determined whisper. "I'd do anything for you, Rachel, and for that reason the Joker needs to realize that he's finally met his match."

"Jack..."

"Please don't say no" he miserably interrupted. "If anything, at least give me a chance and say you'll think about it."

Rachel gave him a worried look, but upon seeing the vast flecks of pain reflecting in his eyes, she smiled weakly and nodded. "Alright, I-I'll think about it."

Rejoicing in her response, Jack gathered Rachel up in his arms and laid her down alongside him, his forehead pressing against hers as he and his lover fell asleep with more contentment than they'd ever known.

A/N - Whew, well _that_ was embarrassing...but yay, it's over! Er, until the next chapter, where nothing good can come from this. ;)


	9. The Beginning of the End

**A/N** - I am SO SO SO SO SO SO sorry for taking so long! Gah! This chapter was SO hard for me to write, and it didn't help that I hardly got any reviews for the last chapter (compared to what I normally get), so I felt like people didn't really care anymore. I'm a review ho-ho, so I always tend to write faster when I get lots of them. I'm a jerk, what can I say? :P Pleeeeeease review and love me, because this only has a couple chapters left, so the sooner I get this out of the way, the better!

Quick recap: Jack sends Rachel off to his aunt and uncle's farm, he follows her there, and then they get jiggy with it. ;)

_WARNING_: VIOLENCE VIOLENCE VIOLENCE (strong language), and did I mention VIOLENCE!?

**CH 9: The Beginning of the End**

When Rachel awoke the next morning, she was greeted by the sweet warmth of Jack's strong, possessive arms encircling her waist. Nosing his scarred cheek, she gently kissed him on the mouth and smiled when his bleary eyes opened in annoyance.

"What?" he grumbled.

_"What?"_ Rachel reiterated, giving him a bewildered look. "Is that seriously all you have to say to me?"

Eyes alighting in recognition, Jack grinned devilishly before mumbling, "Ahhh, yeah, you're right -- we need to discuss our business transaction."

"Um..._business_ transaction?"

"Yeah" he acknowledged, nodding, "after last night's little performance, I think your grand total has now reached a whopping -- but _well_-deserved -- three-hundred dollars."

"Jack, you _jerk!_ You're only worth one-hundred dollars, tops!"

"What? No way!"

Laughing, Rachel pulled her pouting lover into her arms and showered his face with kisses, her voice soft and playful as she whispered, "Well alright, I guess you're worth a _little_ more than that..."

Jack grinned. "Yeah, well you're only saying that 'cause you think I have such a nice ass."

"I-I do _not_, I...! Well... Oh, _shut_ up!"

Chuckling, Jack tickled her sides and made her squeal, his scars bunching up in a grin as he fondly nosed her cheek. "Yeah, I knew it -- the moment you laid eyes on my butt, you thought to yourself 'Damn, I'd tap that!'"

_"Jack!"_

Laughing, he dotted several warm, burning kisses along Rachel's neck before stopping at her ear, his voice low and husky as he teased, "Y'know, not saying anything is the same thing as lying...you shouldn't deny yourself what you really want in life, 'cause it's unhealthy."

"Hm, well what I _really_ want right now is for you to get off my arm."

"Huh?"

"My _arm_" Rachel irritably explained, "you're crushing it with your fat, 'delectable' ass!"

Laughing at her pained, yet playful order, Jack reluctantly released her before propping himself up on his elbow. Wiggling his eyebrows, he tweaked her nose while teasing, "Well, at least you've admitted it's delectable; hope my uncle doesn't get any ideas when he sees _your_ delectable ass."

"W-what?"

Relishing in the horror on Rachel's face, Jack nosed her cheek and chuckled. "Uncle Ralph comes in here for hay and other tools during work...he _is_ a farmer, after all."

"Oh, my God!" Panicking, Rachel shot up in the hay as if attached to a spring, her brows knitting amidst her fury when Jack began laughing uncontrollably. "And what the hell is so funny!?"

Clutching at his sides, Jack beamed up at her before returning, "It's Sunday, Rach -- my aunt and uncle are your average religious family, so they don't believe in working on the Lord's day. We're completely safe, unless the girls decide to come out here and play hide-and-seek."

"Well then give me my clothes, you oaf!"

Jack pouted. "Why should I? Don't you like being naked in a barn with me?"

"Can't say it's at the top of my fantasies list, no" Rachel teased, giving him a gentle push as she reached for her blouse. "Speaking of the barn, your uncle was talking about how long it's been taking to paint, so I figured I'd lend a hand as a surprise thank you gift."

Jack quirked a brow. "Uh, all by yourself?"

"Well yes, are you saying it's a _man's_ job?"

"If the jock strap fits."

"Ugh, you are _so_ foul!"

Laughing, Jack helped Rachel to her feet before kissing her nose, his arms encircling her waist as he offered, "Ok, I'll tell you what -- since you've been such a _good_ little girl lately, I'll stay here and help you paint."

Rachel sneered. "A good little girl, huh? Tell that to the scratches I left on your shoulders."

Wiggling his eyesbrows, Jack bent over and gathered his shirt, pants and boxers, Rachel giving him a bump with her hip as she straightened her clothes. "So" she cheerily began, "do you happen to remember where the paint and brushes are kept?"

"All the way up in the loft."

"Really? Well that's inconvenient..." Shrugging her shoulders, Rachel moved to ascend the ladder when she suddenly shrieked, her limbs flailing as Jack continued to wrestle her back into his arms. "Jack, what are you doing!? _Jack!"_

Laughing, he nuzzled the nape of her neck while confessing, "I only told you that so I could get a nice view of your ass; I've never had the pleasure of watching you climb up a ladder before, so I figured why not?"

Smacking him soundly on the arm, Rachel squealed when he dipped her down for a playful kiss, her laughter being muffled by his lips when she realized how ridiculous they must look. "Jack" she slyly began, "do you think you could at least put some _pants_ on?"

"And give up the Tarzan look? Never!"

"Well at least Tarzan had a loin cloth to cover his parts!"

Grinning mischievously, Jack teased, "What, so you're saying you don't like my loins?"

"God, Jack, you are _so..."_

"Charming? Quick-witted? Dashingly handsome?"

"No, I was thinking something more along the lines of vile, disgusting, egotistical, etc etc" Rachel quipped, smirking when Jack set her down and finally began to reclothe himself. Somehow, she couldn't see them getting too much painting done in the near future.

--

"You know, this might not be such a bad job, after all" Rachel observed, bending over to retrieve one of the spare brushes. "The barn looks a lot bigger from the inside, for whatever reason, so it might take us a whole lot less time than I originally thought." Once she'd dipped the brush in the bucket and started painting, Jack hurriedly took her by the arm before insisting, "Ah-ah-ahhh, you're doing it all wrong, Rachel – you're supposed to brush it back and forth like this."

"Oh, well where on earth would I be without you?" she mocked. "Thank _Heavens_ that my knight in shining armor was able to save me from the pains of vertical brush strokes!"

Jack couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, well women like you tend to suck at life, so…_hey!"_

Giggling and admiring the splotch of paint she'd left on his face, Rachel impertinently insisted, "Why Jack, that shade of white suits you _so_ well! It really brings out the red in your cheeks when you're angry!"

Giving a snort, Jack reached for his brush in retaliation, only to see Rachel take off when she realized his intentions. "Can't take what you dish out, huh?" he called, a vengeful smirk gracing his lips as he went running after her.

Racing around to the front of the barn, Rachel tried to keep her laughter to a minimum so that she wouldn't tire so easily, her hand clutching her brush more tightly as she heard her boyfriend's footsteps coming from close behind.

Screaming, Rachel felt Jack's strong arm come around her middle and pull her back against his chest, her laughter-filled pleas for being spared failing to invoke pity as he slapped his brush against her cheek.

"Gotcha" he whispered, grinning when Rachel gave a stunned shriek of outrage. Turning her around, he kissed her full on the mouth before she could even think to retaliate, her arms encircling his neck as she whispered against his lips, "You are _such_ a jerk."

_"Me?"_ Jack demanded, stunned. _"You_ were the one who started it, so since you injured my male ego, I naturally was going to be the one to finish it!"

Giggling, Rachel moved to smack his rump when she spotted a familiar car in the distance, her heart clenching once she realized it was Harvey's Lincoln Town Car. Feeling sick to her stomach, Rachel quickly grabbed Jack by the elbow and ushered him inside the barn, her voice barely above a whisper as she hissed, "That rat Craig must've told Harvey where you sent me, because he's currently outside in the driveway! What should we do!?"

Trying to keep Rachel calm, Jack placed a hand on her cheek and smiled weakly. "You just keep painting and pretend everything's normal, while in the meantime I'll go ahead and stay in here. I know it'll be hard, but I need you to try and convince him to leave."

Rachel uneasily nodded. "A-alright, but I feel so ashamed after what happened..."

"Why, because of me?"

"No!" Rachel argued, "Because of the fact that I'm still skulking around with secrets; I love you, so I should be flouncing it out in the open, not keeping it under lock and key."

Jack grinned. He couldn't help but feel a surge of pride over her words, for they meant he'd won and that she wanted him; _him!_

Giving Jack a regrettable look, Rachel closed him inside the barn and hurriedly made her way over toward Harvey's car. The lump in her throat was unmistakable, but her resolve to prove that everything was fine caused a forced, brummagem smile to cross her lips as she waved. "Harvey!" she called, feigning surprise, "What on earth are you doing out here?"

"I had to see you" he sheepishly explained. "I've been kicking myself all week over how I treated you at the fundraiser, so when Craig told me where you'd run off to, I just knew I had to come out and apologize."

Rachel grimaced, but tried to hide her disgust with a laugh. "What, so you thought you'd ride in and sweep me off my feet? I really wish you would've just waited for me to come back to Gotham..."

"I couldn't" Harvey earnestly cut in. "Like I already said, I couldn't forgive myself for what I said to you, so I knew I had to come and see you were alright." Now looking over her shoulder he asked, "Painting a barn?"

Startled by the sudden subject change, Rachel nodded meekly. "Um, yeah...I thought I'd pay the Wallace's back for their kindness by surprising them."

"Oh, well then let me help you."

"NO!" Panicking when Harvey gave her a look of surprise, Rachel timidly corrected, "I-I mean, no thank you, sweetheart...it'd mean so much more to the Wallace's if I did this by myself, don't you think?"

Harvey grinned. "Well maybe so, but then I won't be able to talk to you until sunset -- if you let me help, we can catch up on a few things while we paint."

Seeing that there was no way out of her current predicament, Rachel bit her lip and slowly nodded. "Yeah, um...alright. Follow me."

Getting out of his car, Harvey grinned and jogged after Rachel like a foolish, lovesick little puppy. He really _did_ care, she realized, and this only made her feel all the worse for her recent decision.

"Sooo, I heard you left 'cause things were getting too messy in at the office. That true?"

Startled out of her reverie, Rachel gave an uneasy shrug of the shoulders. "Um yeah, I guess...just needed to get away from it all for a while, you know?"

"Oh, yeah" Harvey assured her, grimacing as he reached down for a paintbrush, _"I_ know."

Smiling, Rachel moved to pick up the other paintbrush alongside him, but that was when she heard a sickeningly amused giggle.

Harvey quirked a brow and rose to his full height, sending Rachel a questioning look. "Um, what the heck was that?"

"Oh, probably just one of the Wallace kids" Rachel hurriedly cut in, giving him a weak smile. "I'll go check and see if she's getting into mischief."

When Harvey nodded and began to paint the barn, Rachel hastily opened the double doors before closing them with equal haste, her eyes adjusting to the dim lighting as she slowly made her way toward the source of the noise. "Jack?" she whispered, her voice quivering with apprehension. "Jack, are you in here?"

A shrill giggle greeted her in response, but before she could turn around and intercept the maniac, she felt her arms get viciously yanked behind her and bound to a nearby ladder.

"Well hello there, beautiful -- quite a love-uh-ly day for some S&M, wouldn't you agree?"

Trembling, Rachel glanced over her shoulder in absolute horror, her mouth growing dry once she caught sight of Jack's eyes. They were dark, soulless, and full of caustic spite, his otherwise charming grin now the paradigm of absolute dementia.

"Jack" she pitifully whispered, "Jack, please..."

"Sorry, wrong number! Don't know a Jack" the Joker mockingly replied, his fingers doublechecking the belt he'd bound her with as he grinned. "Even though you refused to coo-op-er-ate earlier on at the hospital, it would seem that you finally gave in and brought me what I wanted, after all."

Rachel eyed him fearfully. "W-what do you mean by that?"

With a dramatic sigh, the Joker cracked his neck before shaking his head. "You know, for an assistant DA, you aren't very bright. I wanted Harrrrvey Big-Chin-Dent, and you de-livered, just as I knew you would!"

"No..."

"Um, yeah, you did."

_"No!"_ Rachel shrieked, now tugging frantically at her restraints, "I won't let you hurt him, I _won't!"_

The Joker gave her a look of mock astonishment. "Why Rachel, whoever said anything about _hurting_ him? All I want to do is play a little game!"

"Please" she begged again, tears streaming down her cheeks, "take me, instead."

Before the Joker could respond to her broken plea, the double doors swung open and in stepped Harvey Dent, his eyes widening in horror once he took in the spectacle before him.

"What the hell is going on here!?" he demanded, looking from the Joker to Rachel, and then back to the Joker, again. "Who are you!?"

"Why Harvey, I'm _crushed!_ Don't you recognize me?" the Joker asked, feigning a look of hurt as he clutched at his allegedly broken heart. "I'm your biggest fan!"

"Enough mind games, freak -- tell me who you are!" Harvey bellowed, his gaze hardening as he raised a fist and stepped forward.

The Joker grinned. "Uhhh, and if I _don't?"_

"Then you're history!" Harvey snapped, charging him just like the Joker had hoped.

Stepping effortlessly to the side, the Joker whirled around and chopped Harvey on the back of the neck with his hand, the DA giving a grunt as he fell like a deadweight to the floor.

_"Harvey!"_ Rachel screamed, shaking as the Joker bent over to open a tool box.

"Hoo, well _that _was easy!" the clown prince giddily observed, reaching inside the box before pulling out a piece of rope and securing Harvey's hands. "A little _too_ easy, eh, Harvey-boy?"

The DA merely groaned in response, thrashing wildly about once he realized what was going on.

"Ah-tah-taaah, no use in struggling, Pretty Boy -- you're not going anywhere until I'm finished with you."

Horrified, Rachel watched on as the Joker hefted Harvey to his feet and made sure he was steady, immediately attaching his bindings to a hook slung over the rafter directly above them.

Sluggishly shaking his head to clear his tunnel vision, Harvey groaned when he twisted slightly to see what his captor was doing. Bent diligently over the tool box, the Joker gave pleased little 'ooh's' and 'aah's' every so often, a giggle escaping him once he finally found what he was looking for and rose to his feet. "Now _these_ are fun" he explained, holding up a dull blade for Harvey's terror-stricken eyes to see. "I'm going to ask you a few questions, and if you answer cor-rect-ly, this'll be the easiest game you've ever played!"

Completely unable to respond, Harvey choked with fear when the Joker stopped directly in front of him, the blade now sliding down the DA's cheekbone in a teasing caress.

"Al-righ-ty then, first thing's first" the clown prince cheerily began, "who else knows you're out here?"

"N-no one..."

_"No_ one?"

"No one, I swear!" Harvey exclaimed, howling in pain when the Joker furiously jabbed the knife through his shoulder.

"You're _lying_ to me!" he snarled, twisting the blade for good measure. "Who else knows!?"

"J-just the guy who told me about Rachel being here in the first place...C-Craig Stephenson" Harvey shakily returned, his shoulder throbbing as he ignored the pitiful look in Rachel's eyes. "I swear to God, he's the only one...everyone else just thinks I'm going out on a business trip!"

Wordlessly glaring up at Harvey's perspiring face, the Joker suddenly grinned while twirling the blade in his hand. "Al-righ-ty, fair e-nough" he agreed, giggling. "Now that _that_ little issue's out of the way, we can finally play our game! Question number one: what is my _real_ name?"

Harvey balked. "What!? I've never met you in my life, you sick son of a..."

"Ah, ah, aaah, think carefully" the Joker entreated, amusement glimmering in his irises. "Think about who I _am."_ Running his finger along his scars with a smirk, he became delighted when Harvey's eyes finally flashed in recognition.

"You!"

The Joker made the sound of a buzzer. "Sorry, wrong answer!" With a manic grin, he took the blade and slashed the front of Harvey's shirt wide open, watching on with a sick satisfaction as a pool of crimson began to spread across the torn fabric.

"Jack, _stop!" _Rachel shrieked, tugging furiously at her bindings, "Just _stop_ it!"

"Jack?" Harvey reiterated, his mouth opening in astonishment. "No, it can't be...you're not Rachel's..."

"Brother? Nope, you're right, I'm not!" the Joker gibed, whooping with laughter at the look on his face. "The truth is it doesn't _matter_ who I am, because judging by the rate you're going now, you won't even survive the next ten minutes."

"But why me?" Harvey demanded, his eyes narrowing. "Why are you doing this to us?"

"Uhhh sorry, but _I'm_ the one asking the questions here" the Joker irritably reminded him. "Speaking of which, on to question number two! What's black and white and red all over?"

"Um..." Harvey paused, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. "...A newspaper?"

"Wrong! A bloody Batsy with facepaint!" Shrieking with laughter, the Joker stabbed the blade into Harvey's other shoulder, grinning manically when he heard Rachel screaming for him to stop. Turning to give her an appreciative glance, he nodded smugly before reassuring her, "Now don't you worry, beautiful, you'll be included very soon -- it'd be cruel of me to just leave you out of the festivities!"

"No!" Harvey pleaded, gritting his teeth, "Leave her alone!"

And because the Joker had been told to spare Rachel, he immediately withdrew his blade from Harvey's shoulder and approached her, a sickly grin forming across his lips when she shunted from his touch.

"Aww, well what's the matter, Rrrrachel? Afraid of the big, bad _clown?"_

"You leave her alone!" Harvey bellowed, shoulders burning with pain as he tugged at his restraints.

Regarding the DA with a scornful giggle, the Joker pocketed his bloody blade and reached for the silver loop in Rachel's left ear. "Hmm, pretty, pretty" he cooed, stroking her cheek with his free hand. "She's so _pretty,_ wouldn't you a-greee, Harvey-boy?"

"Fuck you!"

With a whoop of laughter, the Joker shook his head and slapped his thigh. "Oooh-hoo-hoo, what a nice offer, Harvey-kins, but I'm afraid I'd prefer taking a romp with _this_ de-light-ful creature, instead. More cushion for the pushin', eh?"

Eyes alight with a molten fury, Harvey began screaming and biting out colorful curses, the Joker shrieking his merriment as he reached back for Rachel's earring and gave a gentle tug. "Now, now, Harvey, that's no way to speak around a lady! Why don't you put that mouth to good use and answer question number three, hmm?" Before Harvey could give an enraged response, the clown prince cheerily interrupted, "Who is the philosopher I try to em-u-late? Think carefully, now."

Feeling his forehead beginning to perspire, Harvey ran his tongue across his dry lips as he and Rachel locked eyes.

"Just answer him" she pleaded, tears spilling down her cheeks, "he'll hurt you if you don't."

"Uhh, ac-tu-al-ly" the Joker condescendingly cut in, "I'm going to hurt _you,_ beautiful."

Cursing, Harvey pulled at his bindings amidst his pain, his teeth gritting as he ground out, "Aristotle...your favorite philosopher is Aristotle."

"Hmm." Appearing to be thoughtful, the Joker rubbed his chin before turning to Rachel, stroking her cheek with his knuckles as he asked, "Do you trust Harrrvey with your life?"

Shaking, she nodded. "Yes, I...I do."

_"Rrreeeeally?"_

"Yes."

"Hmm..." With a sudden jerk of his wrist, the Joker ripped the silver hoop through the flesh of Rachel's ear, her cries of agony filling the barn as her wound began to burn and throb like the sting of a hornet.

"You son of a bitch!" Harvey snarled, his voice rising amidst his panic. "I swear to God, I'll get you for this!"

The Joker giggled, rubbing the blood and bits of flesh from the earring as he admired it like some sort of sick, twisted trophy. "Well I hope you will, Dent-Chin, I hope you _will!_ What's the fun if you don't seek any vengeance, hmm?"

Practically frothing at the mouth amidst his rage, Harvey moved to denounce him when he suddenly found himself face to face with the Joker's knife.

"I'm getting a little tired of this 20 Questions game, how 'bout you?" the clown prince crooned, grinning manically as he reached inside his pocket and pulled out a tiny pair of metal tongs. "Whaddaya say we just go ahead and skip to the good parts, hmm?" When several moments passed by with Harvey glaring back at his captor, the Joker finally pressed, "Well what's wrong, _Harrrvey?_ Clown got your tongue?" Without even waiting for a proper reply, he seized the DA's chin and grabbed ahold of his tongue with the tongs, Harvey's eyes widening when the Joker brought his blade up to the slippery organ. Sawing and hacking away at the DA's tongue, the Joker began shrieking with glee as Harvey's cries became garbled with the blood gushing from his mouth. When the organ was nearly completely severed, the Joker pulled and tugged at the remaining tissue until the flesh ripped straight from the roots.

Screaming and sobbing in terror, Rachel found that she couldn't see anything but blobs of color through her tears, her breathing coming out in short, panicked breaths as Harvey continued to howl and wail at the top of his lungs.

"Whew, hoo-hoo-hoo, look at it go!" the Joker giddily observed, wiggling the dismembered tongue around like a flapping, gelatinous piece of liver. Forcing the organ to slide against Harvey's nose, the clown prince whooped before chanting, "Stop licking yourself, Harv! Hey, stop licking yourself!"

"Please, let him go!" Rachel begged, sagging against the ladder as she gave a pitiful sob. "Jack, if you have any mercy left in your heart, you _will_ stop!"

Turning with a bored look on his face, the Joker yawned before irritably observing, "Y'know, you DA's sure are a bunch of stiffs. You just don't know how to have fun anymore!"

"And how the hell is torturing a man _fun?"_ Rachel snapped. "He's done nothing to you, yet for whatever reason you still feel like inflicting pain on him -- I don't understand you at all!"

The Joker grinned, bending over as he began sifting through the tool box. "Nobody understands me, beautiful, but I wouldn't have it any other way. After all, what's the fun in being read like an open book?"

Lifting a handheld saw from the box with an appreciative "aah", the clown prince then rose and pranced back to Harvey with short, giddy strides. "Looky what I found!" he exclaimed, giggling while spinning the small, circular blade with his finger. Wincing when he cut himself, he grinned before observing, "Well gee, it's sharp, too -- nice!"

Shivering and shaking, Harvey began spitting blood as he cursed and struggled in his bindings, scarlet dribbling down over his chin and staining his shirt as the Joker approached him with a gleeful grin.

"Well what's the matter, Harv? _Clown_ got your _tongue?"_ Shrieking with laughter, he held the blade still and swiped it across Harvey's chest, his grin widening when he watched the DA's blood spill past the open wound.

Grunting, Harvey moved to choke out several demeaning curses, but that was when the Joker decided to turn on the handheld saw. Blade whirring at a maddening speed, it came toward Harvey's midsection as he gave a terrified yelp and tried to leap to the side.

"Jack, what's happening!?" Rachel demanded, completely bewildered by the noises she was hearing. "I can't see....Jack, _please,_ for the love of God, just _stop!"_

Ignoring her hysterical cries, the Joker giggled as the saw tore through Harvey's flesh, the blade shredding through the skin and muscle and leaving behind remnants similar to grated cheese. Gore oozing darkly from the wound, Harvey shrieked as he watched the Joker's face get splattered with crimson spots. But it wasn't just anyone's blood...it was _his_ blood.

Howling when the Joker pushed his hand deep inside the wound, Harvey wheezed and gasped as he felt the clown prince's fingers curl around something soft and spongy. Before he could even protest, the Joker gave a forceful tug and the DA's entrails began spilling out past his flesh and muscle, a shrill scream escaping his lips as he choked on his own blood and felt his life slipping away at a frightful, maddening speed.

_"Harvey!"_ Rachel shrieked, sobbing when she saw the pile of carnage at his feet, "Oh God, Harvey, _please..._Jack, _stop_ it!"

Giggling, the Joker sawed away at the remaining entrails before remarking on how he "needed to cut the umbilical", a manic grin crossing his face as he slapped Harvey's pale face a few times before checking his pulse. Giving a disappointed pout in accordance with his findings, the clown prince cheerily muttered, "Ah well, good victims are _so_ hard to find these days!" Grinning at Rachel over his shoulder, he then dipped his fingers into Harvey's wound before smearing the blood across the DA's lips and cheeks. When Rachel saw the gory smile she immediately felt as if she could retch, her vision going in and out of focus when it suddenly dawned on her that Harvey was dead.

_Oh God, oh God, oh God!_

Just when she managed to return her gaze toward the scene of the crime, Rachel gave a shrill shriek of astonishment, her eyes widening when Mr. Wallace snuck up behind the Joker and swung a bat across his head with a swift, dull crack. Sobbing when his body dropped to the ground like a deadweight, she felt all of her remaining strength ebb away and paint her out in an endless sea of black.

A/N - DONE!! HALLELUJAH! I don't know _why_ this chapter was so freaking hard to write, but it was! At first I wasn't in the mood to write "happy, sappy" stuff (yay, I rhymed!), and then once _that_ was out of the way, I wasn't in the mood to write the torture scene, so in result, this took like a gajillion months to finish. GAH!!! If I lost all of my readers, it's all my fault. :( Please show me that you still love and support me by clicking on that de-light-ful little review button! YAY :D


	10. Losing Ground

**A/N** - Wow, didja think I died? I thought I was going to for a while, but I survived the semester. YAY!! It was SO ridiculously stressful -- I had 26+ pages worth of papers to write, and it was just...ugh. So anywhos, after a draining semester, here's an update...hope it's worth it!

**CH 10: Losing Ground**

Feeling a cold gust of wind whistle through his hair, Jack groaned as he opened his bleary eyes and beheld a cold, barren field of desolation. The sky in the horizon was impossibly gray, and the equally colorless grass crunched beneath his feet as he hesitantly stepped forward.

"H-hello?" he croaked, wincing at the rawness of his voice. "Is anyone here?"

When the lonely wind moaned back at him in response, Jack spun around and despaired in the fact that all he could see was grass. _"Hello!?_ For the love of god, is anyone _there!?"_

Feeling tears of frustration burning along his lashes, Jack tightly shut his eyes just as a soft crunch startled him to attention. Looking back up in surprise, Jack gasped when he beheld a small, beautiful little girl bedecked in her Sunday's best.

_Penny..._

Nearly choking with emotion, Jack dropped down to his knees and embraced his little sister, his face pressing against her shoulder as he pitifully moaned apology after apology. When she failed to respond, he hesitantly pulled away and gazed up into her brilliant blue eyes. They were soft and somber, a single tear sliding down her cheek as she began to slowly back away from him.

"No" Jack miserably urged, "please, angel, _don't_ leave me!"

Penny wordlessly vanished in response, Jack screaming for her to stop just as his world shattered and sent him falling, _falling_ into a never-ending pit of darkness. When his body finally made contact with solid ground, Jack opened his eyes and discovered that he was in his living room..._before_ the accident.

Panicking, he jolted upright just as a rubber ball bounced off his knee, his mouth falling agape when he watched Penny regard him curiously from across the room. Her mouth was in the shape of a small 'O', but just as he moved to speak to her, she somberly held out her hand and gestured him forward.

Confused, but not entirely sure if he should ask any questions, Jack staggered up to his feet before clasping Penny's tiny hand in his. Allowing her to lead him into the kitchen, he recoiled when she pointed toward a petite, prostrate form lying on the opposite side of the room.

"Wh-who is that?" Jack demanded, his mouth growing dry.

When Penny still failed to respond, he rushed over to the fallen woman and flipped her over in his arms, a harsh wail escaping his lips when Rachel's elfin, blood-encrusted features stared lifelessly back up at him.

"NO!!"

Shooting up in his hospital bed as if attached to a spring, Jack continued to breathe heavily as his eyes frantically scanned the confines of his room. When he spotted Rachel stirring in the chair across from him, he gave a strangled sob of relief before tearing at the IV in his arm, his rubbery legs trembling as he stumbled out of bed and fell into Rachel's lap.

Shrieking, Rachel flailed about as Jack placed a shaking hand over her mouth, her terror-stricken eyes reflecting the pain he didn't wish to see as she struggled to escape.

"Rachel, what happened?" he demanded, his heart pounding in his chest. "Why are we at the hospital?"

Choking on a sob, Rachel felt tears streaming down her cheeks when he removed his hand from her mouth, her bottom lip quivering as she whispered, "He came back, Jack... We were painting, and...and... Oh _God,_ he killed Harvey! _You_ killed Harvey!" Now beating against his chest amidst her hysterical cries, Rachel couldn't help but feel infuriated by the clueless look across Jack's face. How dare he act as if everything was normal, again... How _dare_ he act as if he had no memory of harming her Harvey! And yet...wasn't she equally to blame? Mere hours ago, Rachel had actually felt relief over Harvey being gone, because now she was finally free to be with the man she loved. The very thought of her inadvertant betrayal made her want to retch.

"No..." Jack argued, finally processing her words, "no, I _didn't!_ You know I'd never intentionally hurt _anybody!"_ Now placing his hands on her cheeks, he trembled as he moaned, "Oh God, Rachel, you've got to get me some help -- I can't take this anymore, I _can't!"_

Rachel miserably lowered her gaze to her lap. "They're going to kill you, Jack -- they know who you are by now, and after you recover, they're going to take you to court and have you executed." Placing her hand over his, she heaved a sob before whispering, "I know I should hate you after all you've done, but I can't... A part of me still believes you can be saved, Jack, and that's why I've decided to help you escape."

Jack quirked a brow, astonished by her sudden declaration. _"What?_ Rachel no, I deserve whatever's coming to me -- I'm not about to let you suffer for my sins, so just -"

_"Listen_ to me" Rachel irritably cut in. "If you pretend to be the Joker, you can take me hostage and we can escape out the back entrance." Reaching into her purse and retrieving a gun, she placed it into his hands while insisting, "If you use this, security will have no choice but to let us go."

"Rachel..."

_"Please"_ she pitifully begged. "When I told Bruce you were all I had left in this world, I _really_ meant that. I may be crazy for believing you can be cured, but since I've admitted that I love you and only you, I have to take that chance."

Feeling sick to his stomach, Jack miserably placed his hand over hers and exhaled deeply. "Alright, I...I'll try, but please tell me to back off if I'm scaring you." Pausing in order to give Rachel a chance to change her mind, he sighed while sustaining, "Ok, let's go before a nurse comes in to check in on me -- it's about time for dinner."

Taking Rachel by the wrist, Jack cautiously opened the door before peering out into the hallway, his gaze returning to hers as he gave a nod to reaffirm their safety. Pulling Rachel into his arms, he placed the gun against her temple and began rushing with her toward the back exit, his heart thudding in his chest when the elevator doors parted and emitted a swarthy doctor.

"Hey, you!" the physician exclaimed, only to balk when he spotted the gun in Jack's hand.

Using this to his advantage, Jack hurriedly whirled around and gave a guttural snarl, Rachel shivering when she heard his voice transform as he barked, "Call off all your men -- tell security to abandon the front desk and go to the east wing!"

Shakily bringing his walkie-talkie up to his lips, the doctor nervously rasped, "Bullock to 206, Bullock to 206, all front desk personnel report to the east wing. I _repeat,_ all front desk personnel report to the east wing."

"Goood" Jack cooed, grinning ferally as he re-adjusted his squirming fiancée in his arms. "Whoever said you can't teach a doctor new tricks, hmm?" Giggling madly, he moved as if he were going to shoot the physician, but he used his gun to press the down button to the elevator, instead.

Hoping to add to the overall effect, Rachel began kicking and screaming as Jack dragged her through the elevator doors, her cries only faltering once they were well on their way toward the main floor.

"You ok?" Jack asked, his grip softening as he stroked her hair.

Nodding weakly, Rachel shivered before agreeing, "Yes, but you were _so_ convincing... For a second there, I thought I'd lost you again."

Jack frowned at this, but he forced a false sense of cheer to his voice as he insisted, "You don't have to worry about that now, alright sweetheart? I promise I've got everything under control."

Nodding wordlessly, Rachel bit her lip as the elevator came to a complete stop, her limbs trembling as Jack gave her a not-so-gentle push out into the lobby. Feeling the barrel of his gun pressing against her back, she hurriedly forced her legs to move faster as they walked suspiciously close to one another. Rachel happened to catch the receptionist's eye as they neared the exit, but something about them must have warned the woman since she lowered her phone with a gasp.

"Hey..._stop!"_ she shouted, now realizing that they were the ones on the APB. "If you don't stop _right this second,_ I'm going to have you arrested!"

"And if _you_ don't stop, I'm going to shoot a hole through this de-_light_-ful little bunny's head!" Jack snarled, placing his gun against Rachel's temple to further prove his point. When the receptionist held her hands up in surrender, Jack grinned while giving his fiancée a push toward the exit, Rachel gasping as she nearly tripped onto the sidewalk.

After hailing a Taxi, Jack ripped open the passenger door and fired a quick, point-blank shot straight into the driver's head. Muffling a scream at the gory sight, Rachel looked up at her lover in hurt disbelief.

"Get in the car" he urged, quickly pushing the body into the backseat.

"You promised me" Rachel tearfully whispered. "You promised me you had everything under control..."

_"Get_ in the _car,_ or I'll put a bullet through _your_ skull, too!" the Joker snarled, now raising his gun so that it was aimed right between her eyes.

Choosing not to cry since she knew that was what he wanted, Rachel miserably slid into the passenger seat before curling up against the car door and closing her eyes.

--

Pulling up to a dark and abandoned warehouse, the Joker licked his lips while observing the premises.

"What are we doing here?" Rachel demanded, opening her eyes as she, too took in their surroundings. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, so she couldn't help but dread his answer.

With a long, dramatic sigh, the Joker turned and took Rachel's hand before giving it a condescending pat, his voice tired and annoyed as he explained, "Look, uh...just know that whatever happens here is nothing personal, alright, beautiful? It just so happens that in this world, everyone's looking to further their own de-signs, and uh...I'm no different. I _know_ I'm not, but the difference between me and people like your _dear_ Harvey is that I'm not ashamed to admit what I am."

Rachel flinched and abruptly yanked her hand back, her eyes narrowing as she hissed, "You are _nothing_ like Harvey -- you don't even deserve to put your name in the same sentence! You think you have mankind all figured out, but you seem to have forgotten that there _are_ good people in this world!"

"Hmm, you mean like the Bat?" the Joker acknowledged, grinning as he clicked his tongue. "You're right about that one, beautiful, but there's only _one_ Bat, and _millions_ of those like you and me."

"I am _nothing_ like -"

"Yeah, yeah, you're 'nothing like me', blah blah blah, but you only say that because you don't understand me" the Joker shot back. "People fear what they don't understand, and _you,_ gum drop, most certainly don't understand a guy like _me._ Nobody does, and that's why they dread the vision I have for this city."

"No, we dread your vision because you're hopelessly _insane!"_ Rachel argued.

The Joker grinned at her words, his nails drumming against the steering wheel as he finally urged, "Get out and wait for my next order -- we're going to play a little _game."_

"What?"

"Just do as I say!" the Joker growled, his glee dissipating as he directed his cold, unfeeling gaze upon the woman before him.

With a pained look upon her face, Rachel hesitantly reached out and touched the clown prince's hand. "Jack" she brokenly began, "Jack, _please_ listen to me -- I _need_ you, and..."

"Get _off_ me!" Striking Rachel's offending hand as if it were a poisonous tentacle, the Joker took Rachel by the throat and began forcing her out onto the concrete alongside the car.

Whimpering as she glanced down at her scraped knees, Rachel looked up just as the Joker towered over her in all his terrifying glory, her bottom lip quivering as she whispered, "I want my Jack back..."

The Joker's lips curled back into a broad, wicked grin at her request, his voice smug and mocking as he purred, "Well, uh...you can't _have_ him, honey bunch. The way I see it, you're the only thing that keeps me from running the show 24/7, so if I can get rid of _you,_ there'll be no more Jack Napier to deal with."

Rachel's eyes widened in horror. "W-what are you trying to say?"

"God, are you really _that_ stupid? Do I _reeeally_ have to paint it all out for you in your own buh-_lood?"_

"Please" Rachel begged, her hands grasping at his pantlegs, _"please_ don't do this! Just let Jack and I go!"

"Let you _go?"_ the Joker reiterated, laughing dryly as he withdrew his pistol. "Now where would the fun be in _that, _hmm?"

"It's not _about_ fun -- not everything in life is a game, you know" Rachel firmly returned, a single tear streaming down her cheek as she gazed up at him with hate-filled eyes.

The Joker appeared as if he were actually mulling her prospect over in his head, his lips curling back into a wicked grin as he raised his revolver and fired. In that same instant, a great black blur slammed into his side and sent him hurdling to the ground, the clown prince laughing hysterically as Bruce struck him again and again.

"You're too late" the Joker hissed, giggling merrily as the rat's fist connected with his jaw. "The pretty little lawyer is, uh..._gone."_

Blinded by rage, Bruce found that he could only respond by hitting him over and over again, the notion that he'd promised Rachel he'd never hurt Jack now being pushed to the far corner of his mind.

"Don't worry, don't worry!" the Joker suddenly spoke up, grinning madly as he spit out a yellowed tooth. "I can see from here that she's still breathing, so now you have a choice: take me into custody and let the _darrrling_ beauty bleed out, or play the role of the _ever_-loving hero and take Miss Dawes to the ER. You choose, but you've got to do it quick -- chest wounds are a hit or miss, after all."

Growling in frustration, Bruce took the Joker by the lapels of his shirt before pushing him roughly back to the ground, his teeth gritting amidst his fury as he leapt to his feet and rushed over to Rachel's fallen body. The son of a bitch _knew_ he'd choose Rachel, and in so doing he'd escape..._again._

"Rachel?" Bruce implored, his voice strained as he turned her over in his arms. "Rachel, can you hear me?"

Coughing up blood, Rachel slowly directed her gaze up toward Bruce's face, her body shivering from the shock as she rasped, "Jack...? I-is he here?"

Bowing his head, Bruce narrowed his eyes as he glanced over where the Joker had just resided. "No, Rachel" he miserably whispered, "Jack's gone."

**A/N** - DONE!! Just ONE more chapter left, people! :) The only problem is, I seem to be having issues with updating lately, so if you want me to get my butt into high gear, please leave a review... I know I drive a hard bargain, but I always work best "under the influence", aka with support. :P Love ya!


	11. Restoring the Status Quo

**A/N** - I apologize about the long wait, but not many people seemed to care about this story any more, so I started working on other stories. Sorry. :/ But anywhos, in case you don't remember, last chapter Batman arrived too late because the Joker had shot Rachel, so that brings us to the present with her clinging to her life. And I know that this seems like it can't have a "happy" ending, but just so you know, I made tragedy and happiness meet halfway, so it's bittersweet. ;)

--

*I'd also like to dedicate this chapter in memory of Jokerluv, a brilliant author and friend who passed away far too soon. She always supported me during the writing of this story, so I completed this with her in mind. *HEARTS*

**CH 2: Restoring the Status Quo**

Removing his sun glasses from the bridge of his nose, Jack entered Rachel's hospital room with a sorrowful reverence across his features, his mouth growing dry at the sight of his fianceé lying helplessly before him. Her skin was whiter than her bedsheets, and her lips were so pale that they almost looked blue in the stark light. From each arm snaked various IV's and tubes, her petite form almost seeming to be swallowed whole amidst the sea of medicinal care.

Picking her chart up from the foot of the bed, Jack scanned her status with painstaking care: her body was in critical condition, she was in need of a blood transfusion, and she was..._pregnant?_

Mouth falling agape, Jack re-read that fateful word over and over again, his limbs trembling as he realized that Rachel was going to have a child..._his_ child. She was in the early stages of pregnancy, so it was possible that even _she_ didn't know, Jack tearfully dropping the chart as he went over to Rachel's side.

"C'mon, babe" he pleaded, gently stroking the curve of her cheek. "You can fight this, alright? And when you get out of here, you and I can go look for an apartment for three -- one overlooking Gotham Park, just like you've always wanted." Sinking down onto the bed, Jack took Rachel's hand in his and ran his thumb along her palm, a small smile coming to his lips as he whispered, "You're going to be a mother, Rachel...you're going to get fat and complain about your enlarged breasts, but guess what? I don't plan on letting you have all the fun by yourself, 'cause whether you like it or not, I'm going to marry you and help raise our child. It'll have its mother's looks, but its father's brains -- talk about an unstoppable force!" Grinning, Jack kissed Rachel's forehead before brushing back her hair, her nasal breathing tube only mildly getting in the way as he began to kiss her eyes, nose, and lips.

Stroking her cheek with his knuckles, he suddenly lost his smile as he gazed down upon her in forlorn desolation. Whether he liked it or not, _he_ had been the cause of pain, and he knew he would never forgive himself. When he'd awoken in an alleyway that morning, he'd been lost and disoriented before all the memories came crashing down on him like an avalanche. That had been the first time he'd remembered what he'd done as the Joker, but his excitement over this discovery had naturally been short-lived.

"Jack?"

Looking up in astonishment, Jack felt his heart leap when he realized Rachel was gazing back at him, her eyes wearily blinking as she reached out to him and touched his knuckles. When their hands interlocked, Jack fought the urge to laugh amidst his relief, his lips brushing against hers as he asked, "How're you feeling, sweetheart?"

"Tired" Rachel softly returned, a listless smile stretching her lips as she reached up and touched his face. Running her fingers through his curls, she gazed upon him fondly while joking, "I must look as shitty as I feel...can I borrow some of your make-up?"

Breathing a laugh, Jack encirled her roving hand with his before gently kissing her fingers, a grin splitting his lips as he returned, "I think I've grown tired of the lipstick -- I don't know how you women do it since it's _way_ too much work to look pretty."

Giggling, Rachel tried to utter a sarcastic retort, but instead all she could give was a wheezing cough. Her slight frame seemed so thin and helpless as she gasped for breath, Jack's features contorting in concern as he clutched her hand. "Hey, you ok?"

Nodding, Rachel gave another gut-busting cough before withdrawing her hand from her mouth, her lips trembling when she noticed the scarlet bloom dribbling across her palm. "I-I'm bleeding" she whispered, her blue eyes appearing large and frightened as she turned her gaze to her fiancé. "Jack" she breathlessly whimpered, "Jack, I don't feel so good..."

Eyes widening, Jack moved to ask what Rachel meant when she suddenly collapsed in his arms, her eyes rolling back in her head as he began to gently slap her cheeks. "Rachel?" he called, now slapping a little harder. _"Rachel!_ Christ, _wake up!"_

Her pallid features did little to assauge his fears, and her sudden limpness frightened him since she wasn't responding to his actions. Carefully lying her down and propping her up against her pillow, Jack crawled more fully onto the bed and began to shake her, a desperate sob tearing at his throat as she continued to remain unresponsive. "Rachel" he moaned, "oh God, Rachel, _please_ don't leave me! I _need_ you!"

At that moment there came a raspy wheeze, Rachel's eyes fluttering as she weakly directed her gaze toward her fiancé's tear-stained cheeks. Listlessly wiping the moisture from his face, she then slid her fingers down his arm until she grasped his hand. Turning it over so that Jack's palm was facing the ceiling, Rachel's wan, chapped lips delicately curved upward into a smile, Jack watching on in confusion as she took his hand in both of hers. Placing the tip of her finger against his palm, Rachel wordlessly began to trace an image on his flesh until Jack recognized it immediately: it was a heart. Her smile broadening slightly, Rachel closed Jack's hand into a fist as if he was holding the imaginary symbol, her voice tired and raspy as she whispered, "I give you my heart, Jack...do with it what you will, because I will always love you."

Jack's lips quirked up into a weak smile. "Sweetheart, why are you making it sound like this is goodbye? We're going to have a _family_ soon, and then we'll grow old together and start finishing each other's sentences."

Two large tears rolled down Rachel's cheeks as she heard his words, and in that moment Jack knew there was no going back. Lady Luck had dealt him his hand, and now he was going to have to play with the cards he'd been given. Trembling, Jack felt a lump form in his throat as he rubbed Rachel's hand, the lump only growing larger when she asked, "Can you hold me for a little while? It's getting awfully cold in here..."

Nodding, Jack wordlessly enveloped Rachel within his arms and pulled her close, silent tears streaming down his cheeks as he kissed the top of her head. He felt her arms weakly encircle his waist as she pressed her face against his shoulder, her body then slumping against his before going completely still.

When the heart monitor flat-lined, Jack immediately tore at the power cord so that they were once more in blessed silence, his strong arms pulling Rachel against his chest as he cuddled with her as before. Smoothing his hand down the length of her hair, he closed his eyes and began whispering about how he planned on building their baby a crib, his shock soon becoming too much as it tore him down into a bout of unconsciousness.

--

Clutching at a bouquet of red roses, Bruce hesitated as he continued to wait outside Rachel's hospital room. Something inside him was screaming that he should just walk away, but somehow he stayed rooted in place and ignored his gut feeling. Finally knocking on the door, he craned his head to listen for a response, but when he didn't hear Rachel's sweet, lilting voice, he immediately panicked and burst into the room. There, lying before his startled gaze was Rachel, Jack tenderly rocking her in his arms as if she were merely sleeping.

"What have you done?" Bruce growled, dropping the roses once he realized how still Rachel was. "What the hell have you _done!?"_

Finally seeming to notice Bruce's presence, Jack looked up from his lover and winced, his voice full of genuine sorrow as he whispered, "I-I didn't mean to..."

Overcome by a whirlwind of fury, Bruce stormed over to the blonde and seized him by the throat, Jack's eyes widening as he found himself being lifted and slammed against the wall.

"You _killed_ her" Bruce hissed, his eyes glazed with tears. "You _killed_ my Rachel!"

Jack stared numbly back at Bruce in shock, his face growing pink from lack of oxygen as he became utterly speechless. Somehow he hadn't seen it before, but now as he gazed back into Bruce's harrowed brown eyes, Jack realized tht Bruce, too, had been in love with his fianceé. "I _didn't_ kill her" he rasped, even though he knew it was a lie. Bottom lip quivering, he fought back tears as he willingly let Bruce tighten his stranglehold. The way he saw it, he _deserved_ to die.

A million questions were racing through Bruce's mind all at once, yet he only acted on his first impulse and struck Jack square across the jaw. Hitting him again and again, tears blurred his vision as he slammed his fist into Jack's gut and elbowed him in the chin, his pain only growing since he knew this wouldn't bring Rachel back. And what was worse, he'd promised Rachel that he'd help her protect and take care of Jack, and yet here he was, beating the ever-living snot out of the grieving man. Jack Napier had loved Rachel just as deeply as he had, and that much was certain.

Fully aware that he was unable to control his emotions, Bruce threw Jack to the floor and went barreling toward the exit, Jack watching after him in shock as he suddenly realized what he must do: that night, the infamous Joker would come out to play one last time.

--

Hugging a pillow tightly to his chest, Bruce continued to glumly watch the news as GCN raved on about various politics, car accidents, and irate protestors in the street. Apparently people were becoming fed up with the Batman wrecking public property, and in result wanted the GCPD to crack down and stop him.

_'Fine by me'_ Bruce thought vindictively, a lump forming in his throat amidst his sorrow. _'If Gotham doesn't need Batman anymore, Batman doesn't need Gotham.'_ The way he saw it, he no longer had a purpose now that his only reason for living was gone, so why even bother trying to live a lie?

"Because she'd want me to" Bruce softly mumbled, hating this realization more than anything. After all, how was it fair that she'd gone up to heaven and he couldn't follow? Why did _he_ have to suffer for her foolish decisions? If Rachel hadn't fallen in love with Jack, she'd be wrapped up safely in Bruce's arms and spending all her freetime enjoying their married life.

Suddenly angry, Bruce found that he was fed up with watching people complain about their meaningless lives, so he moved to turn off the TV just as the station went completely blank. Brows knitting in confusion, Bruce began changing from channel to channel, but just like each one before the last, there was nothing but snowy static to greet the perplexed billionaire.

Clicking again and again, Bruce finally stopped when the picture was restored to what looked like some sort of warehouse. There came the sound of someone clearing their throat, then a nasal voice cheerily spoke up, "Guuuh-reetings, fellow Gothamites! We interrupt this exceedingly _boring_ program to give you something more fun..._me!"_ With these words, the camera was spun madly around until it focused on the Joker's horrendously large grin, his tongue swiping across his lips as he gave a giggle.

Subconsciously tightening his fists, Bruce looked on in utter contempt as the clown prince continued, "Now then, who wants to play a little _game,_ hmm? Per-haps the ever valiant _Bat_ would care to join me and leave his cave for a few hours? Because, uh...as I re-_call,_ we have _quite_ a bit of unfinished business to attend to. I thought you might like to know how much the little bunny _screamed_ when I de-livered the fatal blow, or, if _that_ doesn't light your fire, we can talk about how much she _screamed_ when I fucked her back at the fundraiser. What fun, what _fun!"_

Tightening his fists as he imagined he was strangling the clown, Bruce listened in revulsion as the Joker continued, "Now then, the rules are ex-_cee_-dingly simple, Batbreath: you come to the largest building on Tredeger Avenue -- ya can't miss it! -- and we'll have ourselves a good ol'-fashioned fistfight so you can, uh...a-_venge_ your little girlfriend. If you win, I'll come quietly and take a dose of my own medicine, but if _I_ win..." Here the Joker giggled, his lips curling into a devious grin as he continued, "If _I_ win, Gotham will have one less Bat on its hands. _Oh!_ And by the way, if you little cops and lawyers try to get in the way of our fun, I'll blow up a _veeeery_ important building...it's City Hall, in case you're wondering. _Toodles!"_

In an instant, the screen went blank and then returned to the proper program, Bruce gritting his teeth as he turned and went racing for the Bat cave. One way or another, he was completely determined to bring the Joker to justice..._even if he died trying._

--

Slipping his fingers into his gloves, Jack pursed his lips and flexed his hands as he gazed down at his hated ensemble. The broadcast he'd just made had deeply pained him, for the very realization that he'd denounced the woman he loved made him want to retch. Rachel's memory deserved far better, and yet, he _knew_ the only way to get Batman to break his one rule was to incite him in such a strong, abrasive manner that he couldn't help but lash out. He knew Batman had cared about Rachel -- that much had been made obvious over the years -- so if Batman cared about her as much as _he,_ himself did, Batsy was almost certain to show up with arms swinging and a need for vengeance. Although the Joker didn't believe in justice or doing the right thing, Jack _did,_ and he wanted Rachel to be avenged more than anything else in the world.

"My stupidity won't hurt the innocent much longer, beautiful" he softly whispered, his gaze now trained upon the brightest star in the sky. "I was the one who started this mess, so now I'm going to finish it."

"Talking to one's self can be a sign of dementia" a gravelly voice spoke up, thus causing Jack to whirl around in surprise. There, standing along the curtain of shadows was Bruce in all his glory, his eyes almost seeming to blaze beneath his cowl as he clenched his kevlar-encased fists. There was something almost animalistic about his fury, but since he was a level-headed man, he merely growled out, "You wanted me, so here I am...what are you hoping to prove with this so-called game, Joker?"

Despite being caught off-guard, Jack quickly bounced back as he jovially returned, "Why, nothing at _all,_ Batpoop! If I actually _told_ you my intentions, that'd be defeating the purpose!" Scratching his chin with his blade, he added as an after thought, "I already told you that we had some unfinished business, so here we are. I mean, do you even re-a-lize how _nice_ I'm being? I set up this little meeting so you could a-venge your little bunny, but do I hear a thank you?" Mockingly holding a hand to his ear, he called out, "Hel-_looo,_ is anyone even out tre? Are we going to do the whole ten paces thing, or what?"

Gritting his teeth, Bruce finally lost his cool as he growled out, "Rachel is _dead_ because of you, and despite the fact that you claimed to love her, you don't even seem to care! Either way we choose to resolve this issue, it ends _tonight!"_

Bruce's words felt like shrapnel exploding inside Jack's heart, his gaze growing pained as he found himself nearly going out of character. He wanted to scream "I do love her, I _do!"_, but instead he threw back his head in a delighted laugh. "Ah, such passionate words for a winged rodent! Tell me, Batsy, do you re-hearse lines like that in front of a mirror? 'Cause I can tell you've been practiciiiing!" Giggling, he added, "Too bad for Rachel that you worried more about your own theatrics than saving her life, eh?"

Finally unable to take it, Bruce's fist connected harshly with the side of Jack's face, the clown prince hurtling backwards until his back collided with a beam from the building. Momentarily winded, Jack couldn't help but grin as he wiped the blood from his mouth. "Now _that's_ more like it, Batbreath! Why don't you hit me again, hmm? Hit me for all the times I thrusted into Rachel's warm, scuh-_reaming_ body!"

Bruce lunged forward again, but this time Jack rolled out of the way and grabbed a crowbar. Thankful that they were fighting at a construction site, he paused momentarily to spit out a mouthful of blood before turning back toward his adversary. "Baaaaatter up!" he called, giggling as he lunged forward and smacked the crowbar across Bruce's chest.

Grunting, Bruce skidded backwards and fell onto a tarp, his arm quickly moving to block the blows from the crowbar as Jack began striking him at a maddening pace. Bruce was confused by the sudden aggression, but had he looked more closely, he would've seen tears in the clown prince's eyes -- tears of frustration since he couldn't get Batman to break his one rule.

Just as Jack moved to strike Bruce for the umpteenth time, he found himself suddenly airborne as he was kicked a good three feet away. Landing with an unceremonious _'oof!'_, Jack looked up at his adversary while inwardly pleading, _'C'mon, c'mon, I know you can do it, Batsy...just kill me!'_

Bruce, however, was suddenly determined _not_ to kill him. Even though he desperately wanted to maim Jack until he screamed for mercy, he knew that his vow to Rachel was far more important than his own feelings. Despite the fact that Bruce felt as though Jack no longer deserved to live, he knew it wasn't his decision to make.

When Bruce moved to help Jack to his feet, the blonde suddenly lunged forward and stabbed Bruce in the chest. Stunned, Bruce acted on his first impulse and struck Jack soundly in the gut, the clown prince giving a yelp as he staggered back toward the edge of the building. Panicking, Bruce whipped out his grappling gun and shot it towards Jack's teetering form, but amidst his haste, he miscalculated the shot and hooked nothing but air.

_"Jack!"_

Racing forward, Bruce moved to catch the clown prince just as he toppled over the edge, Bruce gazing at his empty fist in disbelief when he realized that he hadn't caught him. He'd let Jack _slip._ As he helplessly gazed down after the falling clown prince, he was stunned to see Jack wearing the most peaceful smile he'd ever seen.

--

Groaning, Jack slowly opened his eyes as the sound of rolling thunder greeted his senses, his blurred gaze resting upon a calm, blue sky and grey, gentle waves as he suddenly heard a light giggle.

"No, Penny, don't put sand on his head!"

Jolting to attention at the sound of that voice, Jack's gaze finally focused as a familiar face came into view. "Rachel?" he croaked, his heart swelling at the sight of her laughing blue eyes.

Giving him an amused look, Rachel smirked while teasing, "Well gee, did you forget who I am, already? Of _course_ it's me!"

"And Penny...?"

"Yeah, she's right here beside me" she acknowledged, ruffling the girl's soft, butter blonde hair.

Feeling himself choke with emotion, Jack tried to lunge forward and embrace them both, but instead found that he couldn't move an inch. "Uhh, a little help here?" he urged, indicating his sand-entrapped body.

With a self-satisfied grin on her face, Rachel leaned over him while smugly purring, "Hmm, maybe later...we _did_ work pretty hard on getting you in there, after all."

"It was my idea!" Penny spoke up, grinning broadly as she crawled over to her brother. "Would you like some mud pies in case you get hungry?"

Jack chuckled. "I'm on a diet, angel, so no mud pies for me. I _would,_ however, like to take a nice walk with my two beautiful girls, but in order to do _that,_ you're going to have to let me out of here."

"Clever" Rachel praised, smiling as she stroked his sand-encrusted cheek. "Are you _sure_ you want out? Once we take that walk, there's no going back."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, suddenly a little fearful.

"We've been waiting for you for a long time" Penny softly explained, her eyes almost appearing sad. "If you come with us now, we can finally go to the place we're supposed to be."

Jack balked in astonishment. "You mean...we're _actually...?"_

Rachel nodded before kissing his cheek. "Come on, Penny, let's help him out of this."

"Ok!"

Blithely assisting Rachel in unearthing her brother from the sand, Penny squealed when Jack suddenly grabbed her by the wrist and tackled her to the ground. Holding her in a headlock, Jack grinned while exclaiming, "And _this_ is for not helping your big brother!", Penny shrieking with laughter as he gave her a semi-gentle noogie.

Giggling, Rachel moved to intervene when she suddenly felt a hand come around her ankle, a gasp escaping her throat as Jack pulled her down into the sand beside them. "Jack, you are _so_ dead!" she snapped.

_"Dead?_ Well yeah, I guess I am" he agreed, chuckling as he pressed his forehead to hers. Before he could give her a kiss, however, Penny launched herself onto Jack's back with a squeal of laughter.

Trying to fight off her giggles because of the pained look on Jack's face, Rachel finally broke into full-blown laughter when Penny wrapped her arms around her brother's neck and squeezed.

Finally managing to laugh as well, Jack hefted Penny up onto his shoulders before holding his hand out to Rachel. Smiling warmly when she accepted, he helped her to her feet and gave her hand a tight squeeze. "I really missed you" he mumbled, his unyielding gaze never leaving hers.

Smiling back at him fondly, Rachel gently reassured him, "I really missed you, too", her thumb brushing across the top of his hand as they started walking. Moving closer to his strong form, she softly added, "Now that you're here, we can finally be together forever."

Jack grinned. "Hmm, sounds like Heaven to me...aside from the fact that that also means an eternity of your _snoring."_

_"Jack!"_

Chuckling, Jack easily evaded Rachel's slap as Penny shrieked with laughter, the trio giggling and shoving one another as they gradually disappeared into the shadows of the horizon.

**A/N** - Wow...sorry if that sucked, but this took me forever and a year as it is, so I just winged it. lol And I didn't want to say they were Heaven since I want it to be up to your interpretation. The beach was like "limbo", though, so you can decide where they went after that. Anywhos, hope you enjoyed this story, and if you want to read something "new" (as if you haven't seen ENOUGH of me, haha), I've got a Secretary/Dark Knight crossover out there called "Ink and Bandaids", and it's a whole lot of fun so far. It's also a _completely_ different tone from this, so if you're sick of "unhappy" crap, you might wanna check it out for some "happy" crap. :P I'se so eloquents! lol


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